I, Angelica
by Katalyst15
Summary: Euban Angelica is Outcast. Banished to earth to learn from its inhabitants, Euban meets a girl named Rachael, and against all odds, falls in love with her. Later, Euban is informed that a Beacon of the Astronomican is gestating inside Rachael, and Euban m


March 27TH, 2005

I, Angelica

By Taylor Shideler

**Part One: Daemons in Heaven, Angels in Hell**

**Prologue**

The Astronomican is both powerful and weak, dangerous and harmless. It is the most powerful tool you have in your possession and the most dangerous weapon in your arsenal. In space, the Astronomican allows us to keep our boots on the ground without gravity and allows us to jump from system to system. In the laboratory, the Astronomican speeds up time in nano increments and breaks quarks into even smaller parts. On the battlefield, the Astronomican heals wounds, powers our weapons, and allows us to protect ourselves with the Shields from the Void. But for all its valued properties, both warlike and peaceful, the Astronomican is our Threshold. After death comes the Astronomican, that most holy realm where all that is good exists. The world of light, of happiness, of purity. Everyday is a good day to die, for after death comes the everlasting beauty and life that is the Astronomican. None who venture there ever return, and it is where the Majik-Jahad, first among beings, live and rule the universe even now. It is where you shall go once your time on this earth has run to its end, after you have fought through hell and stared Death in the eye and made him blink.

Protect the Astronomican and face the Darkness without fear, for it is the weapon that shall save our souls in the End Times. - _Aeber Tacticum Training Manual, Chapter Four: Weapons of War_

Chapter One: Outcast 

"Hard to port!" Euban roared over the sirens blaring throughout the control room. Servitors' scurried about at his command, intent on performing their own menial tasks while also obeying their commander. Euban felt the Aeber warship shudder and looked at the status pallet on his control suite. His ship was badly damaged; many sections were on fire or sealed off altogether. He had never been this vulnerable before in all the centuries he had been fighting the Ghaul, a parasitic race that had infested the Lucifer Sector some five thousand years ago, near a backwater planet, the name lost in time. Tivas Lucifer, the discoverer of the Lucifer Sector, was discovered to have remained in contact with the Ghaul after their discovery, and later, he turned traitor, giving the Ghaul Aeber technology. Luckily, the Aeber managed to assassinate him and forcefully grinded the Ghaul invasion to a halt, resulting in the Ghaul War becoming an endless chain of guerilla battles. However, two weeks ago, Euban and his crew had managed to steal a Ghaul Primarch Crystal, one of several large crystals that held all the tactical updates from the Ghaul Hive hidden deep in The Gulf. Euban had managed to avoid capture for 14 days, until the six Ghaul scout ships and a warship had caught him here, not thirty light years from New Mecca. Euban felt the ship shudder again and gripped the hand railing. He looked towards the screens and saw a piece of debris hurling towards the camera, and Euban ducked instinctively. Static filled the screen, and Euban saw the piece of debris and the camera fly off into space with the rear camera. The ship rocked and Euban felt a concussive blast, looking towards the top view screen. Equipment, shards of armour, and Aeber soldiers' floated into space. "What section was that?" Euban asked. One of the Servitors turned towards him.

"Section 779, sir."

"Purge it," Euban roared immediately; he couldn't risk hemorrhaging air, they'd need it. "Where's my firing solution?" he yelled in the direction of his Acolyte. The co-pilot turned towards him, the light in his chest glowing red at his master's distress

"It is ready sir," the Acolyte informed him. "Our God Cannon is charged and ready and our Lance Batteries are at 97 port and starboard." Euban nodded,

"Target the Ghaul ships on either side of us and fire upon them with our Lance batteries," Euban ordered, "wait to fire the God Cannon on my command, then fire the Lucifer Cannon two seconds after."

"Aye, sir." the Acolyte replied, before he turned and began to type in commands. Euban felt the ship glow red hot for a split second, before their Lance Batteries fired.

"Port and starboard cameras!" Euban roared at one of his Servitors. The deformed creature turned and the small crystals inset in its skull glowed blue. The screen in front of Euban split into thirds; port, starboard, and fore cameras. Euban just barely saw the beams of the Lance Batteries crisscross towards the enemy cruisers on either side of them, before the ships exploded, gutted from stem to stern. Euban suddenly saw the Ghaul war cruiser appear on the front screen. "Fire God Cannon!" he bellowed. He saw the screens glow blue for a moment before the God Cannon fired, the bolt of blue light racing from the ship and slamming just aft of the control center, plowing straight through the Ghaul ship, the plasma energies washing over the cruiser and throwing it awry. Euban suddenly heard the familiar _brrraaaapt_ as the Lucifer cannon fired, 10 small beams of red light firing out in a fan pattern. Three of the shots missed, flying off into space. The rest hit cleanly, peppering the ship and making small eruptions blossom along the hull, fire erupting in a line along the ship. The blasts tore through the control room and blasted the fuel stored in the engines. The explosion that followed nearly knocked Euban off his feet as the ship blew up with awesome force, sending millions of shrapnel pieces into space. Euban's sigh of success instantly melted away, for just as the Ghaul cruiser exploded a large, green, shifting hole appeared in space. Within seconds a huge Ghaul flagship appeared in space, dwarfing the Aeber warship. As soon as it entered space its lateral lines began glowing red, and Euban realized what it was going to do. "Brace for impact!" he roared, just before the Ghaul ship fired its plasma batteries. The red lances of plasma washed over the ship, melting its shields and burning its armour. "Navigation," Euban bellowed over the renewed screaming of the sirens, "Get us out of here! Set course for New Mecca!" Euban heard several loud beeps and then the view screens were filled with the blueish white light of the Slipspace tunnel. Euban's Acolyte walked slowly up onto the Captain's Pedestal, murmuring,

"Sir, are we fleeing?"

"Yes." Euban grunted, the metal hand railing buckling as he crushed it in his fury.

"Sir," the Acolyte said quietly, "if I am correct, Fleeing Before Death is punishable with Exterminatus by Law…"

"I know the Laws!" Euban roared, shoving the Acolyte against the wall. The Acolyte's chest light glowed blue as he attempted to pacify his master, and Euban released him, sighing deeply. "We carry a Primarch Crystal," he muttered, pacing across the Pedestal as he spoke. "We could not possibly make it through that fight and return the Crystal to New Mecca. We had no choice but to flee…" he continued to speak to himself quietly as he thought. The Acolyte nodded,

"Let us hope the Council accepts it," he murmured. Euban nodded.

"Aye," he whispered, "let us hope." Euban stared off into the Slipspace tunnel as they sped to their destination and prayed.

For mercy.

Euban walked slowly up the long hallway, the four guards following him watching his every move. Euban's hands and feet were bound by special grav links; special links attached to his ankles and wrists that were bound by invisible bolts of electricity. If Euban made any sudden movements, he would be zapped with a freezing bolt of electricity.

Even if he wanted to escape, he wouldn't get far.

Even stripped of his armour Euban was an impressive sight, a towering three meters in height. His legs were muscular and bent inwards at the shin, so he looked like he had the back legs of a dog, with three toes extending from his large, cylindrical feet. His skin was a grayish blue hued, and his mouth was divided into four sections, each with two rows of razor sharp teeth. His arms and chest were comprised of rock hard muscles and steely tendons. He didn't have any eyes, but his vision was exceptional, even for his kind, and a tribal tattoo fanned out underneath his left temple. His brain used a special system of heat and motion detection along with sound to produce a sort of blue and white field in front of him, which pulsed as they entered the audience chamber. The audience chamber was a huge, hollowed out oval in the belly of the flagship. A large, three hundred meter bridge led to the High Council's seats. Headless birds flew overhead, flickering shadows in the light that shone above them, over four hundred feet high, and all manner of exotic creatures were held in large glass cages above them. On either side of the walkway, stepped sections were built into the walls where Aeber philosophers, scientists, and professors could sit and discuss. The friendly debates of the Aeber witnesses turned into bellows of rage and taunts as Euban entered the chamber. His guards were exchanged for ape like Scheball, massive creatures that towered over even him. The creatures were eloquently dressed in yellow and silver armour, and they carried large force-halberds in their hands, which crackled and spark with energy. The masses of scholars in front of the High Councils' seats parted as the Scheball led Euban to the front of the High Council, pushing him up onto a stepped podium. Euban gulped and felt sweat forming on his brow. He prayed silently for forgiveness as the five Prophets entered the audience chamber. The Prophets all floated on small hoverseats, which hummed as they kept the Prophets a few feet off the floor. They were old and thin, with whiskery, white beards and grey skin. Each Prophet was bedecked in different colored robes and headdresses depending on his status. Yellow for the Prophet of Wisdom, green for the Prophet of Memories, blue for the Prophet of Serenity, red for the Prophet of Belligerence, and teal for the Prophet of Patience. Euban felt the guards step back, so he was standing alone in front of the Council in all its holiness. He would have made obeisance to the Prophets right there had he not been bound by the grav links. He simply bowed, waiting for them to acknowledge him. Finally, Wisdom spoke, his voice old and raspy.

"Captain Euban Angelica, do you know why you are here?" Euban nodded,

"I have been charged with the most Heinous act of Flight Before Death." the Prophet of Belligerence pointed a long finger at Euban,

"This creature before you is a Heretic, a traitor, Wisdom!" Wisdom lifted his hand, silencing Belligerence. Then, narrowing his eyes, he said,

"Please explain your predicament at the time, Captain Angelica." Euban nodded. He sighed slightly, then began.

"We left Prisma on a routine recon mission two weeks ago. On our way we found the hulk of a Ghaul ship. We destroyed the ship, first managing to retrieve a Primarch Crystal, and immediately set course for New Mecca. We traveled for several days without opposition, until we were shot out of space by a cruise disruptor. We suddenly found ourselves faced by no less than seven Ghaul cruisers. My ship became badly damaged; we were forced to purge several sections. Just as we destroyed the last ship, a Ghaul flagship, the likes of which I have never seen, appeared fore of us. As soon as it appeared from space it shot us with its plasma batteries. It was fully armed, fore, aft, starboard, and port with them. As we could not possibly bring the Crystal to New Mecca, I saw fit to teleport out of battle and escape." Wisdom nodded, and Belligerence waved his hand.

"Bah," he growled, "You could've taken them!"

"I doubt it," Patience murmured, "A Ghaul flagship with full plasma batteries? Impossible…"

"What would any of us have done?" asked Serenity solemnly.

"Stand and fight!" Belligerence roared, bringing his fist down on the hoverchair so forcefully that the machine tilted slightly.

"But remember the Crystal…" Serenity cooed.

"Enough!" bellowed Wisdom, and the Prophets' immediately ceased their debates. "Memories," Wisdom called, "Has a situation like this ever occurred before?" Wisdom shook his head.

"Never," he murmured, "Not in the deepest corners of my mind…" Wisdom nodded.

"What do you think, Prophets?" he asked the other Prophets.

"Execution!" Belligerence bellowed. Large crowds of witnesses responded,

"Execution!" they bellowed. "Execution!" Euban looked around, horrified. They wanted him to die? Wisdom raised his hand, again bellowing,

"Enough!" Wisdom lowered his hand, and the chamber slowly fell silent. "It is the decision of this Council," he called for all to hear, "That Captain Euban Angelica shall not be executed," Euban's two hearts jumped. So he wasn't going to die, "This is because of Angelica's need to bring the Crystal to New Mecca, giving him proper reason to flee. Euban instead will be Outcast." a hush fell over the hall. Euban's hearts sank again. Outcast? "You will be sent to a planet called Earth to study a race called Humans for a friend of mine, Professor Rygel Archimedes. He recently had to have his technician killed because of Exposure to the Ghaul, and needs a replacement. You will go in his technicians place." Euban felt fear wash through him. A new race? What if they were hostile? Did Archimedes already have information? Questions raced through Euban's head as the Prophets' turned to leave the hall. Wisdom turned and spoke again, "I will inform Archimedes of the situation. You will be taking an escorted ship to the Foresto System where Archimedes is keeping his lab. Guards," Euban felt the four Scheball step up behind him, "please take Commander Angelica to his cell." Euban heard two of the Scheball step forward and heard the familiar _clack_ as the grav-links were applied to his ankles and wrists. Euban then heard the loud _bzzt_ sound as the guards energized their force halberds, and they slowly turned, following Euban's movements as he slowly and proudly walked out of the room. The Scheball led him to a large elevator, and they all slipped in. Euban felt his body lighten and felt him lift slightly off the ground as the elevator dropped at over 60 kilometers an hour. When the elevator slowed Euban felt the Scheball land on the floor, making the elevator deep slightly.

"Let's go," one of the guards' muttered, prodding him with his force halberd. Euban cursed as the energies from the weapon blasted him forwards. The Scheball laughed stupidly and pushed Euban forward with his fists. The Scheball led him down a white hallway to where a trio of Aeber were standing, two of them hefting dual plasma rifles, one holding a force sword and the grav-link controls. Euban realized they must be the newest breeds. As the Aeber were always advancing their genetic structure because they were always at war, new, stronger soldiers were needed, and so new breeds were designed almost every month, stronger, faster, but dumber. Euban grinned to himself; the newest fibro-muscles and armour still couldn't beat an experienced brain. The Scheball grunted to the three Aeber and the one with the sword and grav-links stepped forward, pressing the button on Euban's grav-link control. Euban felt a slight shock blast his ankles, and he fell to the floor. The Scheball and Aeber soldiers chuckled to themselves until Euban pulled himself upright. He had learned many centuries ago that pain at that level was merely a temporary setback. The Scheball turned and left down the corridor, and the two Aeber with the plasma rifles lowered their weapons, pointing them straight at Euban's head. Euban ignored them and lowered himself to speak into the microphone set on the wall.

"Euban Angelica." he muttered to the microphone. The microphone beeped and the door slowly slid open, and Euban stepped through the door, pausing to observe where he was. He was looking down into a huge launch bay, pillars and paintings lining the walls. Thresher fighters, Dropships', and even two or three massive battle barges were resting inside the bay, and massive, mechanical arms whirred and clicked as they tired to repair damaged craft. The sword wielding Aeber led Euban down a flight of stairs to the floor of the launch bay, walking him over to where a pair of Aeber pilots were standing and talking.

"This the prisoner?" one of them asked as the group neared.

"Yes," the sword wielding Aeber said, jerking his head towards Euban, "Commander Euban Angelica, sentenced for Banishment to Planet Solon, Rygel Archimedes laboratory." The second pilot nodded.

"We already have the flight sequence set in the ships log," then, turning to Euban, he said, "let's get you suited up. We're already behind schedule." Euban simply stood there as the pilots put his flight suit on. They then drew their plasma pistols and each grabbed Euban's elbows, placing the pistols against his head.

"Sorry," one of them grunted, "Prisoner Protocol." Euban nodded,

"I understand," he murmured, and the pilot nodded. The two led him into one of the ships, and to Euban's surprise set him in the pilot's chair. Strange that they would leave him with an armed craft.

"Try anything and we'll blast you into space," the first pilot said as they exited the ship. Euban watched them leave and then looked around. He could see the glint of a camera lens winking at him from a dark corner and realized that they were keeping a close eye on him. Euban turned to the console, buckling himself into the chair, noticing that, while his craft was armed, the weapons were on lockdown. He couldn't fire his weapons unless one of the pilots unlocked them. He grabbed the helmet off of the wall and placed it over his head. Plugging it into the wall, Euban heard immediately the first pilot's voice.

"Commander Angelica? Do you copy?"

"Copy," Euban muttered.

"Select flight plan four," the pilot told him. Euban nodded and powered the ship up. Instantly the ship came to life, floating off the floor, the HUD appearing in the glass windshield. Euban typed in the commanded flight plan and saw the two ships fly into space ahead of him, their top plasma turrets tracking him constantly. Euban felt the ship shudder and the small ship glided slowly from the launch bay, and the two escorts ahead of him charged their plasma drives. "Charge plasma drives." the pilot called.

"Charging," Euban said. He flicked a switch and heard the sizzling whoosh as the crafts plasma drives charged.

"Launch," the pilot called, and Euban pulled the plasma lever. A bristling tunnel of light appeared in front of the three craft, a shifting wormhole. Euban felt the sudden shock as the craft slipped into the drive and felt the slight sting as needles were inserted into his neck, before the needles injected him with a nuero-shocking medicine, which knocked him out cold.

Euban awoke several hours later; his mission clock read four days, three hours. He rubbed the back of his neck groggily where the needles had been stuck into his skin, and Euban felt the slight bumps from the scabs. He looked up and his numb brain suddenly registered the fact that there was no more light-filled tunnel. Euban also noticed that the craft was shaking slightly, and light was flashing at the edge of his vision. He heard a deep sound booming in his helmet, which slowly turned into a voice. The pilot's voice…

"Euban!" he roared. Euban suddenly sat up straight an looked out his observation window. Plasma bursts were flowing across it, and he suddenly saw something zip right in front of his cockpit; a fighter! Euban grabbed the joystick and cued his COM.

"This is Angelica!" he yelled into the headset, trying to shake the grogginess from his voice as his vision slowly cleared. He heard static for a moment and then his craft turned down.

"You slept in," the pilot yelled sarcastically, "commence battle operations; we need you!"

"Targets?" Euban asked, typing commands into the ships computer.

"Three Ghaul Archangel fighters," the pilot said, "your second escort has been hit but he's alive and working!" Euban nodded and suddenly saw a ship blast in front of his vision, coming straight for him. Euban felt his heart thumping inside his chest as the ship floated in front of him, and he saw a flash of red. Instinct kicked in and Euban jerked the joystick to the right, his brain screaming at him. The ship rolled just as the beam of a Hellcannon blasted past him, and he heard warning sirens blare as the computer acknowledged it was being attacked. Euban flicked a switch and pulled the trigger. Plasma blasted from cannon ports in his nose and the Archangel rolled backwards as the energies splashed over it. It suddenly blared its engines and it jumped forward, and Euban pushed his throttle to full. He felt adrenaline rushing through his system as his ship rolled upright, following the targeted ship, his weapons charged to the max. With a jolt the craft shook slightly, and a blast of tracing plasma issued from Euban's left side, following the Archangel as it careened around a chunk of debris. Euban smiled grimly as the plasma slowly turned, tracing the enemy's selected path and colliding with it, red-hot plasma burning a hole the size of a tank in its cockpit. The craft went dark and the ship simply floated through space, chunks of debris floating from the gaping hole. Euban's pace quickened as the dead ship floated towards him, and he leaned forward, peering in the ruined cockpit of the dead craft. He could see burnt controls and the torched body of the Ghaul pilot, almost unrecognizable as humanoid. Euban sat back and swallowed as the ghost ship floated past, visions of battle and comrades lost flitting through his mind. Euban suddenly saw plasma trails wash over his vision and kicked his ship in gear, following his target indicator to his next opponent. One of the pilots' was being chased by a Ghaul craft, and Euban locked on again. Charging his weapons, he fired the weapons' at full charge. This time twin bolts of red plasma wheeled towards the Ghaul craft, sizzling through its crude shields and armour and blasting it to pieces, the fire roiling through space. Euban sat back in his chair and killed the throttle as the pilot whooped loudly.

"We did it! Yeah!" he yelled into the headset, and Euban grinned slightly. They had won. "Planet Solon this is prisoner escort for Euban Angelica, requesting permission to land!" Euban exhaled as the pilot chuckled to himself, and he felt his ship turn on its own as the AI flight plan brought them towards the planetary docking ring.

"Permission granted escort. Solon out." Euban observed Solon as the three ships floated slowly towards it. Dwarfed by a gigantic gas giant, Solon was a small, glinting jewel. It was a dark, jade green, with lighter green cracks running across it. It couldn't be more than 10,000 kilometers across, and from the rumors Euban had heard, the entirety of the planet was made of a jade green crystal. Euban felt the ship shudder as the trio entered the docking ring, floating down to the planets surface. Euban saw a thriving city below him, built into the crystal side of a giant wall that ran, zigzagging, over more than 8,000 kilometers of Solon's surface, rearing up over a vast plane of icy colored crystal and jade. As they drew nearer Euban saw that the city was actually lit by large orbs of crackling electricity held in the outstretched hands of gigantic statues of crouching Aeber. The city itself was large, with mechanical building meshed directly into the crystal wall. Euban felt the ship slow as it floated towards the city's landing pads. A few seconds later, the ship stopped, floating downwards, before it stopped with a jolt. Euban pulled off his helmet and his flight suit and immediately felt the grav-links light up again, crackling energies preventing his escape. Euban stood as the door leading into the ship cracked open, and the two Aeber pilots came in, pointing plasma pistols at Euban.

"Come, Commander." one of them muttered. Euban stepped out onto the landing platform, and he felt the warm, humid air. It felt slightly heavier than normal, and Euban noticed he didn't have to breathe as deep as usual. It must be an oxygen rich atmosphere. Euban looked up as they walked, seeing the transports, grav cars, and fighter ships fly above and below them. Euban followed the two pilots to the edge of the platform, where a large grav car sat. Euban got into the back seat and the two pilots got in front, and the car lifted off of the ground, flying into the air.

"PLEASE INFORM COMPUTER OF DESTINATION." a female computer voice asked.

"Rygel Archimedes' lab." one of the pilots told it, and the car sped up, flying upwards, weaving through the streets. The cab ride was very quiet, Euban spending most of it staring out the window of the car and watching the city below. Lights flickered past him and Euban felt his heart quicken suddenly as a shadow flew overhead. Was it always this dark?

A few minutes later the car stopped, floating sideways to the edge of another large platform. Euban stepped out and the pilot pointed him to the only door. Euban nodded and felt the grav links fall from his ankles and wrists, and turned, stepping towards the door. He sighed quietly, then stepped through the liquid-blue door into Archimedes' lab.

Euban looked around. All manner of scientific devices and machines were scattered throughout the lab, as well as cages containing all manner of creatures. Euban heard footsteps and turned. Professor Archimedes came out from a door, smiling as he saw Euban. He was very short for an Aeber.

"Ah, Captain Angelica," Professor Archimedes mused, looking the warrior up and down, "We meet at last." He held out his hand. Euban hesitated at this new gesture, but finally took the hand. Archimedes squeezed firmly and shook, but Euban gave no pressure. "Get used to the handshake," Archimedes released Euban's hand and turned, "It's Human greeting. Also, you'll have to get used to an extra finger. Now," Archimedes took a deep breath and picked up a small glass, taking a sip. His body was skinny and covered by dark green clothing. Euban suddenly heard several clanks and looked down. His mouth opened slightly as he saw Archimedes had four metal legs. He suddenly looked up as Archimedes chuckled.

"Wondering what happened?" The old man croaked. Euban gulped and nodded. Archimedes took another sip of his drink, "I was on the Primus IV front and had both legs blown up by a tricannon. Yes, Euban, I was once a Warrior." Euban mouthed wordlessly, and finally stopped . Archimedes turned back around. "Now. Times have changed since I last visited Earth. We have sent several scientists in to help influence Human growth and development over the millennia. I went several hundred years ago as a Philosopher in Greek society. You will be going as a young man, about 20 years of age, in a place called the United States. Please, sit down," he indicated a chair in front of a large holo projector, and began clicking the remote that brought up the pictures. The first was of a large map of Earth, "This is Earth," Archimedes explained, "It is a relatively small planet, with both north and south poles. Its climate, unlike our home planet, Prisma, varies greatly, being quite warm around the center and getting cooler as you go out. There are tropical biomes, deciduous forests, taigas, arctic, sub-arctic, all kinds of biomes. You will be placed here," Archimedes clicked the remote and the map zoomed in to a large peninsula butting out from the southeast side of the United States, "This is Florida. It is a tropical biome with many remote places. Your mission is to remain on Earth for eight months and keep a record of Human young behavior. You will be attending a "college"; like a Philosophy school, specializing in physics and alien possibility. You are staying with a girl named Rachael Robert," a picture of a young Human female appeared on the screen, "We already have a secret room in her basement containing all the equipment you'll need to blend in with Human society," Archimedes turned and picked up several data crystals from the table, "Take these and study them carefully. You are to be rooming in a mimicry of your ship quarters in the rooming complex thirty-four stories up; just use the teleporting screen to get there," Archimedes indicated the blue, shimmering screen located in the wall, about five feet from the door, "you leave in five days, Euban." With that Archimedes turned and left, simply leaving Euban standing there, holding the data crystals. Euban waited for a moment, waiting for Archimedes to excuse him. After he had waited for several seconds, Euban stood. He walked over to the transporter screen in the wall, sighing and saying,

"Euban Angelica's quarters?" It worked. Euban felt his body being pulled through space, his body fluxing and weaving between time and space, before he came to an abrupt stop in a long a section of hallway. He looked around, spotting the room nearest the transporter screen, with the words "Euban Angelica" flashing over it in red letters. He walked over to the door and stroked it with one of his long fingers. The thin membrane that made up his door simply melted away at his touch, although Euban wasn't fooled; that door could take the strength of a Hellcannon before it would even begin to weaken. Euban stepped through the portal and into his quarters. Compared to the average quarters his room was huge. A large screen made up his back wall, in front of his research device and his chair and desk. A holographic projector sat under a glass case that held a model of Euban's ship in it, the _Unyielding Hierophant_. Above that case were Euban's medals, glinting gold and silver in the light; the Medal of Arms, Campaign bars from the Insurgents Wars, Medal of Honor, Medal of Pain, Medal of Bravery, and Medals of Trust. Euban turned, to look at the other end of his room. His bed sat on one corner, a small box with a lid that slid over it. Inside the foam was unnaturally attuned to Euban's electromagnetic signal and body form, so he could lie down instantly and fall asleep. Euban looked up and cocked his head, confused. Above his bed were his weapons; dual plasma pistols, a plasma rifle, and a beam sword, as well as the five small balls that were his Strontium grenades. Euban looked over at his armour, which was sitting in a tall glass case over by the wall. It would cover his chest, back, thighs, shins, shoulders, and the outsides of his arms. A large neck plate ran in a circle around it, protecting Euban's neck and the lower part of his head. On the wrist sections of the armour there were two box-like appendages. When Euban flexed his fingers, blades would shoot out of those, two on each wrist, razor sharp and jagged, each at least three feet long. These were Euban's primary melee weapons, and he could use them with deadly efficiency. But…why would they give him all his weapons? Euban sighed and retreated to his personal study to work on the crystals, pushing these questions aside. It was going to be a long five days.

Euban awoke with a start, bumping his head on the slate over his bed. His doorbell was ringing. The slate slid over, and Euban stepped out, cursing the bed makers and walking over to his door. He opened it, and the door melted away, revealing Prof. Archimedes.

"Ah, Euban," He said smiling, "I hope I did not wake you?" Euban shook his head.

"No, sir." He murmured. Archimedes nodded,

"Ah, good. And please, do not call me "sir". Hate the name. Please call me Professor or Archimedes. I have come to check up on you; make sure you have used your three days wisely." Euban nodded,

"I have learned much of the Human race. Please, come inside. Would you like something to drink?" The two talked for several hours, discussing what Euban had learned. The Human race was divided into several bodies, called countries. Some countries had states, and these had cities. The race itself was small, and weak, but smart. Only a few thousand years old, they had already harnessed nuclear power in both martial and economic forms. They had slight space flight, and had already had space warfare for several decades. Their ships were mostly large and bulky, not sleek and fast like the Aeber. But they had their ways. Some of their battles and the tactics involved were impressive, maybe even enough for mention in the Aeber Tacticum Training Manual. In the Xeno section of course. Most systems were ruled by one leader, not by a group like the Aeber, who had learned long ago that a single being ruling the system simply did not work. Human anatomy was less complex than the Aeber, although, as Prof. Archimedes mentioned, they were not genetically perfected like the Aeber. There sexual reproduction was much like the Aeber, although, as Euban had noticed with surprise, the females were generally smaller than the males. On average, Humans were less than two meters tall, with much less muscles. They had only one heart and one set of lungs, and no back up systems like the Aeber. After a few hours the conversation turned to the actual flight plan and journey. Euban was to be dropped into Human space via drop pod through one of the spatial entrance rings of the planet. With the Aeber technology, they hopefully wouldn't notice him. Euban was to go to College with a young female named Rachael to study the Human young. He would stay for eight months, reporting back to Archimedes every four weeks, "How will I report to you?" Euban asked. Archimedes grinned.

"We have arranged with Human officials for your arrival. They already have a small room with our door technology inserted in it. To everyone else, it will look like simply a brick wall, but once you touch it, you will have your own lab, with all the equipment you'll need." Euban nodded,

"Weapons?" he asked. Archimedes looked up.

"Excuse me?" he asked. Euban straightened up,

"Weapons," he asked, "Will I have anything to defend myself against possible Ghaul attack?" Archimedes shook his head,

"Absolutely not," he told Euban, "No hostility. Besides, the Ghaul have no knowledge of the Human race. I assure you, you will have no need for weaponry." Euban nodded, and Archimedes stood, "Keep reviewing those crystals Euban. I am impressed with the level of effort you are putting into this project." Euban nodded.

"Above and beyond the call of duty, sir." Archimedes smiled, and turned, exiting the door. Euban turned and drank the last of his drink, feeling the warmth spread through him. It was time to get some sleep.

Euban felt blackness pressing on him, kneeling on the floor in his armour. How wonderful it was, to finally rest. Euban furrowed his brow. No thoughts, clear your mind. Euban breathed deeply and smelt the fumes wafting from the Candles of Prayer. Euban felt the fumes float slowly up his nose, and Euban swayed slightly. Must stay awake, you must. Slowly however, the fumes began to take him over. Sleep Euban, sleep…sleep…..

He woke to alarms.

Euban sat up as the sound of the alarm finally pierced his senses. He jumped up, looking around and turning to his wall screen. "Briefing!" he yelled to the glass. Large words began to scroll across the screen.

GHAUL FLAGSHIP SIGHTED EXACTLY 0300GHAUL _STRYKER_ CLASS FLEET FOLLOWED AT 0303BOARDING ACTION OF PLANET _SOLON_ COMMENCED AT 0407YOU AWOKE AT: 0417

Euban cursed to himself. He had been asleep through an hour of alarms? Euban turned towards his west wall, pulling down his weapons and locking them into the various parts of his armour. He pulled down his combat headset from the space above where his armour should be and attached it to the receiver built into his brain. Immediately voices began screaming at him, and Euban slowly focused, and the voices melted away. Euban detached his plasma rifle from the wall and looked at it for a second. Ten minutes of boarding action? He'd need something heavier. And if the room mimicry workers had done their job, Euban knew exactly where to get a bigger gun. Euban attached the rifle to his armour and turned towards a far wall, pushing a button. The wall slid away, and Euban smiled at what he saw; a large, tri-barreled gauss cannon, specifically built for fighting in tight hallways such as the complex's. It had large, double grips and a backpack for the plasma battery. Euban shouldered the backpack, attaching the cables to the bottom of the gun, lifting it gingerly from its place on the wall. Just as he did this, Archimedes' voice crackled through the headset,

"Euban, you must get down to my lab immediately! You must leave now! Hurry!"

"Confirmed," Euban bellowed into the mike so he could be heard through the static, "commencing operation." Euban moved swiftly through his door, swinging the gauss cannon left and right. No targets. No trouble. Euban began walking in the direction of Archimedes labs; the teleporters were immediately shut down after boarding to stop any enemies from using them. Euban ran for several minutes before a thundering boom rang through the complex, shaking dust from the ceiling, and Euban looked out one of the large glass observation windows on the side of the room complex. The battle raging outside the glass was like none that Euban had ever seen. Ghaul and Aeber ships littered the sky around the city, smoke and fire billowing into the air, and a massive Ghaul warship was floating about three kilometers from the city, slowly coming closer, pounding the crystal foundations and buildings with its massive Redeemer cannons. Debris was strewn everywhere, and Euban could see the blue, red, green, and white streaks as God Cannons, Lucifer Cannons, Hellguns, and the warship's Redeemer cannons fired to and from the station. Euban suddenly saw motes of red light appearing around the Ghaul warships lateral lines, and there was a great flash of light as it discharged its Redeemer cannons. Euban followed the slow moving orbs of light, sparks trailing behind them, before they slammed into the neck of one of the Aeber statues' supporting a city light. Euban instinctively ducked slightly as the statues' head cracked with a great crunching sound, before the head fell clean off the statue, falling over a thousand feet to crash into the lower section of the city. Euban felt his hearts sink and then felt anger flow through him. That cruiser had to be taken out. Euban suddenly noticed something flying towards the complex with incredible speed and turned. It was a boarding pod, and Euban estimated where it was going to go. He ducked just as the craft slammed into the rooming complex, massive laser loops burning through the walls and melting through the armour instantly to allow the troops inside access. Euban brought his weapon to bear just as the first troops dropped into the complex. Euban hefted the weapon, angling it upwards, before he yanked down on the trigger. One of the barrels fired, a bolt of green, iridescent light arching from it and ramming into the packed soldiers. Several dropped with loud screams as the plasma burned through their bodies and washed over their life support systems. Euban fired again and again, green flashes filling the complex corridor, until he was forced to stop; the gun barrels burned orange from the plasma. There was nothing left to identify as Ghaul. Blood and shattered bones were strewn about the ceiling and walls, and Euban spit on the corpses as he proceeded down the hall. He stepped into an elevator and pushed a few buttons. The elevator lurched as it began its thirty-four-story descent to Archimedes lab. Euban felt his body float upwards slightly and suddenly the complex shuddered, and Euban nearly dropped his weapon. Alarms blared anew, and Euban could guess what had happened. A direct hit on the city. Euban suddenly felt the elevator stop and looked at the information screen. He was on his floor. Euban looked up as the door swung open and brought his weapon up. Two figures stood before him, and Euban lowered his weapon. It was a pair of Aeber soldiers. Their red armour glowed in the light, and they both carried pulse rifles; less powerful versions of the plasma rifle. Their bodies were less developed and a good foot smaller than Euban's, and they did not have the dark grey skin of a veteran warrior such as him. Euban saluted, and the soldiers saluted back, and one of them even bowed.

"Euban Angelica," he murmured, "It is an honor to meet you." Euban nodded, looking at the bodies littering the floor.

"What happened?" He asked. The soldiers' shook their heads.

"We do not know," said the one who had bowed, "It was like this when we arrived. We are waiting for others to rendezvous with us here." Euban nodded, and there was suddenly a loud crash at the end of the hall. Euban and the two soldiers turned, their eyes narrowing. A small army of Ghaul troops came smashing through the door, and Euban immediately raised his weapon.

"Drop!" He yelled, and the two soldiers obeyed, kneeling down and raising their pulse rifles. The gauss cannon blared three times, green light flying through the Ghaul soldiers like a scythe through grass, Ghaul arms fire flying past Euban as he fired his weapon unmercifully into his enemy. The weapon kicked but Euban held the trigger down forcefully, bolts of green lightening arching around the station in the plasma's wake. The Aeber soldiers on either side of him picked off the survivors, and Euban finally dropped the gauss cannon, its battery totally depleted. The barrels glowed bright orange and its top radiator glowed dimly in the light. He drew his two plasma pistols and started down the hall. "Wait here for the rest of the soldiers' or until another commanding officer. I have my own job to do." The soldiers' nodded, and Euban saluted them again. This time they both bowed, and Euban smiled as he went down the hallway. Euban suddenly heard guttural grunts coming from a side passage and snuck forward, tilting his head sideways so he could see down the hallway. The sound was made by a group of Ghaul soldiers that were standing over an Aeber soldier's corpse, kicking it and laughing heartily. They didn't seem to notice Euban, who sheathed his two pistols. It was time for the coup de grace. Euban unsheathed his claws and rushed forward, his footsteps making the Ghaul soldiers turn just before he slammed into them. One Ghaul soldier's shriek of alarm was cut short as Euban slit his throat, his respirator bubbling liquid nitrogen; they couldn't breathe oxygen. Euban ducked and slashed, knocking two Ghaul to the floor. They fired their weapons, the lasers flying past Euban as he ducked and dodged. He brought his claws into the chests of the felled soldiers', who gasped and flexed their abdominal muscles in pain, before they went still. Euban looked up and rolled past the other two soldiers', who brought their weapons to bear on Euban. The lasers pattered harmlessly off Euban's void shields, before Euban turned, drawing his plasma pistols and firing. The weapons cut into the two Ghaul like a knife through warm butter, and they fell to the ground with groans. Euban turned and sheathed his weapons, smiling at the carnage. It had been a while since his blood had run so warm. Finally, he turned and left for Archimedes lab. When he finally reached his lab, the professor was frantic.

"Where were you?" He exclaimed furiously.

"I ran into trouble on my way here." Euban told him simply. Archimedes ignored this and dragged Euban over to a large chute, where his pod sat. It had to be at least 25 square feet wide, with large control panels and protective straps and covering to protect Euban from the cold of deep space.

"Just stick with the plan!" Archimedes yelled to Euban over the noise. Euban nodded, and then suddenly heard a loud discharge sound. He turned his head, looking out the window. The Ghaul warship was sitting right outside the glass, floating on its grav suspensors just a few stories below them, firing its cannons into the city. Euban looked from the ship to Archimedes, and Archimedes gave him a look of pure terror. "Euban," he began yelling as Euban backed slowly to the end of the room, "Euban, no!" But it was too late. Euban charged forward, running at full speed, before he pulled out one of his plasma pistols and fired. The glass shattered just before Euban slammed into it, and Euban covered his face as he leapt out into the open air. For a second he hung there, flying slowly towards the gigantic ship, his heart pounding, laser beams and plasma bolts flying past him. Then, with a loud thump, he landed on the top of the massive cruiser, his fingers lodging in a chink of the ships armour. Euban reached out his arm, pulling himself slowly end over end closer to the spot where the reactor was on the ship. He thanked the gods' for the Ghaul's poor craftsmanship; their main reactors were located right at the top of their cruisers to allow them to fit more powerful weapons on smaller craft. Euban climbed for several minutes before he saw it. Glowing underneath a small layer of adamantium was a bright red light, and Euban raised himself so he was resting on one knee. Euban suddenly wobbled and grabbed the metal to balance himself as the Ghaul ship flew up a few more levels to better pound the military installations with its cannons. Euban sheathed his pistol as the warship finished its ascent and drew his plasma sword, the weapon crackling to life with a blast of heat and energy. Euban swung the blade sideways twice with his sword, cutting a clean slash in the metal plating large enough for Euban to put his hand through. He turned off the weapon and stuck it on his belt, peering into the hole. He could see a large cradle right next to the main reactors primary coolant pipe, and Euban pulled one of his Strontium grenades from his belt. Priming the ignition, he saw the weapon glow bright green, indicating it was ready. Euban stuffed his fist through the hole and dropped the grenade, and it nestled right in the cradle Euban had been aiming for. Knowing he had only seconds, Euban stood and turned. Archimedes lab was at least three stories below, and Euban would be hard pressed to make the dive. It was either try, or die here. Euban stepped back a few paces, then ran forward, leaping from the massive cruiser with a grunt. Seconds later the top of the ship exploded in a ball of fire, and Euban could feel a wave of heat flying past him. More explosions followed, blossoming along the ships hull as it blew up from the inside. Euban could see Archimedes standing at the edge of the window, and he reached out his hands to catch the rim…

…but there was no need. Euban flew through the top of the window and hitting the ground with a thud, sparks flying from his armour as he skidded into a pile of scientific junk and debris. Archimedes turned and yanked parts of the junk pile off of Euban, who stood, dusting himself off. Archimedes stared at Euban for a second, then punched him dead in the face. Euban tasted blood.

"Endanger an entire mission why don't you! What were you thinking?" Archimedes yelled, shoving Euban into the pod. Euban, still tasting blood, strapped himself into the pods harness, rubbing his two lower mandibles. He felt the pod's protective shell close, and then felt a thud and a shudder. There was a great roar as the pods engines fired, hurtling Euban through the sky, Solon's atmosphere, and finally out into space. He felt explosions around him as the battle outside raged around his pod. He was so small and so fast that no ship, either Ghaul or Aeber, would detect him through this mess, he thought. Suddenly the pod jumped as it hit some debris, and Euban slowly blacked out as the pod prepared him for hypersleep space travel.

Chapter Two: Arrival 

Rachael Robert sat up with a jolt as the bell rang. Everyone was staring at her as she blinked and stared around.

"Sleeping." She muttered. She suddenly looked up front. The science teacher, Mr. Caulsway, was staring at her.

"Alright," he said finally, "You all know the assignment. Ms. Robert, please stay after class." Rachael ground and thumped her head on the desk as the rest of the class filed out. Finally she stood and walked over to Mr. Caulsway's desk. Mr. Caulsway looked over his glasses at her, handing her a detention slip.

"Aw, Christ." Rachael muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"Rachael," Mr. Caulsway told her, "You are a wonderful student. You are smart, you do well on the tests, but you need to pay attention in class and do the homework!" Rachael nodded, running a hand through her short purple-dyed hair and taking off her glasses. She pulled out a pen and signed the detention form, taking her half of the slip and leaving the room. As her hand closed around the doorknob, Mr. Caulsway called, "Ms. Robert, the assignment is pages 347 through 358. Understand?" Rachael nodded,

"Thank you sir." she replied. He nodded, before returning to his paperwork. Rachael turned and walked out of the room, heading to her next class.

It was going to be a long Friday afternoon.

Euban felt his eyes flutter slightly. This was just like hibernation; every so often his body would awaken to revitalize his organs and hearts. Euban felt himself fall slowly back to sleep as his heart rate slowed to about twenty beats per minute. He felt himself falling, dreaming…

Actually, he thought, this will be more like a nightmare.

Euban strapped himself into his seat, the rest of his unit filing in and strapping themselves in as well. The last to enter was their unit commander, Orion. The veteran's body was grizzled and shredded. Scars and burns from a thousand battles covered his skin, and his armor was only slightly blue under the burns smeared across it.

"Attention soldiers!" the veteran barked. The light in the Dropship turned red, and Euban and the others looked forward. "Our orders are simple. Drop in, take out the defense laser, and hide out until the rest of the fleet comes and picks us up. Everyone understand?" no one spoke. "Good," Orion muttered, "then let's get it done." Euban sat back and relaxed, feeling himself slowly floating within the confines of the harness. They were in space now. They flew on for a long time; Euban's internal clock thought it as about thirty minutes. Soon, however, the ship rattled and shook, and Euban felt himself fall back onto the seat.

"Breaking atmosphere." The pilot's voice crackled into his headset. Euban grabbed onto the harness railings as the Dropship shook, thunder raging around him. Euban slowly felt the turbulence die away as the Dropship's flight leveled out, and the veteran un-strapped his harness, standing up and grabbing the railing.

"What kind of day is it?" he bellowed over the engines, and Euban smiled.

"IT IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE!" he and his unit roared in unison. The veteran grinned, before sitting down in his pod once more. Euban saw the metal sheet slide over him as the Dropship prepared to send his unit flying down to the planet. Euban heard a loud _kachunk_ and felt the drop of his stomach as the Dropship launched his tiny pod towards the ground. These pods were much smaller than space drop pods as they did not have to break atmosphere and required less protection. The small egg shaped craft plummeted through the sky, and Euban felt more than heard the huge break thruster fire. The drop pod shuddered and shook violently, slowing down so forcefully that the harness dented under Euban's armour. The pod suddenly shook and stopped as it hit the ground, and the door popped open. Euban immediately rolled out as he had been trained, drawing his pulse rifle and sweeping the area ahead of him. He heard the blaring of music as it howled through the trees, amplified to massive proportions. The Aebers' enemies used this to try and blind them, as the Aeber's sight relied slightly on the sounds around them. Euban sighed and relaxed, pushing all sound from his mind. He felt his vision pulse and scanned the area. No targets. Good.

Euban stood and looked around. He could see small blossoms of fire fanning out near him as the other pods landed, making the earth shake and causing his vision to tremble slightly. Euban began to walk in their general direction, his rifle still held up in his arms; nothing wrong with being cautious.

Especially when your life was on the line.

Euban paused for a moment to take in his surroundings. The forest was abundant in life; large, headless birds flew overhead and scattered trees pulsated slightly as though they were breathing. Euban began walking and cried out suddenly as a flurry of movement flitted in front of him. His pulse rifle fired off accidentally and he lay in the grass, staring upwards. A flock of plants with flat tops had gone spinning upwards like helicopters, flittering upwards and above the canopy. Euban rose, cursing himself, and began walking again. Rain was pouring through the forest trees, and Euban had to focus hard to see through it with his vision; his species always had trouble with their vision system in the rain. Euban met up with the rest of the squad, who gathered around the veteran.

"Alright men. Stick close and follow…" his sentence was cut short as Euban suddenly heard it, a _pfoompf_ and a loud screeching sound.

"Artillery!" Orion yelled, "get down!" Euban did, curling up into a ball as he had been trained. He felt great waves of heat wash over him as the plasma artillery exploded and washed over them. The heat inside his armour spiked, and Euban felt it struggle to balance out the heat. He crouched there, crying as the artillery barrage pounded around him.

His first drop and it was already FUBAR. Euban uncurled slowly as the artillery stopped. After a few seconds, he heard one of the Aeber soldiers yell out.

"Casualties?" the soldier called.

"None," another replied, "I don't think we lost anyone." Euban risked a peek out from under his armour and saw a figure lying on the ground. Slowly, the form picked itself up, and Euban recognized who it was.

"Orion!" he roared, running over to the veteran, who was clutching his chest. As he neared Euban could see the veteran's armour was scorched. The rest of his unit closed around him as Orion leaned over on his hands and knees.

"Sir?" the medicae officer asked him, kneeling down beside him, "Orion, are you alright?" Orion didn't answer, just gave a huge heave. A small blob of black foamy stuff fell from his mouth onto the ground, and he gave a painful groan and rolled over.

"Sajak!" one of the soldiers muttered, cursing in the Aeber language "what's wrong with him?" The medicae officer stood, staring at Orion in painful horror.

"That's his lungs." He muttered simply.

"What?" Euban asked him, picking the veteran up and holding him in his arms, "What do you mean?"

"Plasmafication," one of the other soldiers muttered, "he must've been so close to the blast that the plasma burned his insides." Euban stared at Orion as he gave another sick heave, and another wad of his lungs, much bigger, fell on the ground.

"What can we do?" one other soldier murmured.

"Nothing," the medicae muttered harshly, and he drew his Lance pistol, "move." He ordered Euban, who nodded slowly, setting Orion on the ground. The medicae officer pointed his pistol at the veteran's head, "forgive me, Orion." He whispered, before he fired, ending Orion's pain and killing him instantly.

Euban awoke from his flashback as alarms blared through the pod. Why was it always alarms that woke him up? He looked at the view screens and cursed. Earth was only a few kilometers away! Euban frantically typed in commands.

"Prepare atmosphere breaker!" he yelled to the pods computer. The pod had missed the planetary rings completely? Euban heard a _whoosh_ and saw a small blue film appear over the cameras.

"SHIELD UP." the computer informed him. Euban stood straight and braced himself. There was a great crash and the pod shook violently as it broke atmosphere. Fire swarmed over the view screens as the small ship plowed through the ozone layer. Finally, the fire dissipated.

"Release atmospheric armour!" Euban yelled, "Set course for Waypoint Seven, terminate main thruster!" Euban felt the pod shudder as the external armour of the pod fell off. The roar around the pod stopped as the main thruster exhausted its fuel supply, leaving Euban alone in the pod, the only thing keeping him company being the whistling of air flowing through cracks in its structure. Euban suddenly felt the pod slowly begin to move sideways as thrusters on the side of the ship fired, repositioning its landing course. "Fire brakes, release parachute!"

"PARACHUTE LOSTBRAKES COMPROMISED" The computer beeped.

"SAJAK!" Euban cursed, screaming at the computer. Euban turned and pushed a few buttons, before staring at the port and starboard view screens. The large flaps of metal that were his emergency brakes slowly rose, shaking slightly against the tons of pressure being forced against them. Euban watched with baited breath, praying, hoping…

…until the brakes snapped off, flying back past the pod and into the sky. Euban cursed again; he was frantic now He heard sirens blaring around him.

"Maximum velocity breached…. maximum velocity breached…. maximum velocity…" The voices of the computers overwhelmed him, and Euban screamed, trying his best to brace himself for the landing…

The world was suddenly filled with noise and fire. Euban could feel the pod shake as it broke through trees, tearing a huge gash in the forest canopy. Splinters flew past him, whether of the pods Wraithbone armour or pieces of wood, Euban could not tell. The pod suddenly stopped abruptly, and Euban's head collided with one of the screens, knocking him unconscious.

Damn landing sequence…

Rachael silently thanked God as the bell signaling the end of detention rang. She jumped up, grabbing her bag and beating everyone else out the door. She left the building, reveling in the Hawaiian sunlight. Enormously tall Banyan trees blocked out most of the sun, so that only a few specks of sunlight touched the ground, but even these beams were enough to light the College grounds. Apahua College was a science based college; strong in the way of Physics, Genetics, and Xenology. Rachael sighed happily as she started through the park back to her dorm. On the way she met up with her friend Alex.

"Hey you," Alex called, catching up with her, "we still going to the movies?" Rachael nodded, and Alex smiled. Alex was short with long brown hair and bright brown eyes. She was slightly overweight but was very athletic. The two walked over to Rachael's car and got in, driving to the theatre. They were going to see the newest sci-fi flick, Aliens versus Predator V. They sat down in the theatre, getting ready for the movie to begin.

It was a long movie, and two hours later the pair were driving back to the dorms, discussing the movie.

"I thought it was okay," Rachael said.

"Yeah, it was pretty good." Alex replied. There was silence for a moment, then Alex turned towards Rachael. "Rachael," she muttered, "do you believe in aliens?" Rachael looked at her.

"What, you mean the bug-thing aliens?"

"No, no," Alex waved her hand, "I mean any other intelligent life out there. I mean, do you think we are the only intelligent life in the universe?"

"What about the Snufflers from Zenith VII?" Rachael asked, referring to the small furry burrowing creatures recently discovered on Zenith VII, a newly discovered planet abundant in life. Alex gave her a look.

"Those things are anything but intelligent."

"Oh," Rachael grinned, "I think they're cute."

"Cute as they may be, they aren't intelligent," Alex muttered, sitting back in her seat, "I mean, is there another race like _us_ out there?" Rachael shook her head.

"I don't think so," she muttered, "I think we're all the intelligent life the universe has." Alex nodded, then sat back in her seat, closing her eyes. The car stopped with a jolt as Rachael pulled the car in.

"There is such a thing as a curb, you know?" Alex said, raising an eyebrow. Rachael nodded and got out, shutting the door as the whining from the gravity drives died down, and the car rested softly on the pavement. The two began walking through the nature path back to their dorms. They were halfway there, when Alex suddenly tripped.

"Ow," she exclaimed, "what the…." Alex gasped, and Rachael looked down.

It was a boy, lying on the ground.

Euban's vision pulsed, a blue field appearing over his vision. His body felt as though it had been beaten; he felt recently healed bones and muscles groaning in protest as he shifted, trying to look around. Where the hell was he? He shook his head, trying to shake his vision into obeying him. Suddenly a face appeared over him.

"Hey, you're awake. Whoa," the face leaned closer, "dude, Rachael, check out his eyes! And that tattoo!" Euban felt someone else lean over him and heard them mutter, "Whoa…" quietly. What in the gods' names was going on?

Euban sat up in bed, instinctively reaching for his pistols. But they weren't there. Euban suddenly noticed his skin was a bright pinkish brown. And…by the gods! He had four fingers! Euban ran his hand over his face. He had only two mandibles, not four, and sight organs. But instead of color vision, he still had to rely on Aeber sight. The pod's software must have disguised him as a Human male. Euban ran a hand over his head, and felt hair. He shivered. Such an odd anatomy, Humans. Suddenly a male in a white coat came into the room, holding some sort of knife and a pad.

"Ah, Mr. Euban. You are awake," The male scratched small marks on the paper, dark trails remaining on the paper after the knife. "Ladies, please leave for a moment, I need to speak with Mr. Euban."

"Hang on," Alex muttered, "what's up with his eyes?"

"Oh," the doctor grinned, "he's…slightly blind." Euban could see well with his Aeber sight however, and he saw the two girls exit the room, and the male sat down, pulling out a small card. "Euban, my name is Eric Harrison, I am a government official with the CIA. I am one of the agents that the High Council should have told you about. What happened?" Euban suddenly realized that this was someone he could trust.

"My pod had a terminal computer error. It didn't awake me from hypersleep until I was right on top of the planet. Please forgive me." The doctor shook his head and smiled, handing Euban the card.

"Don't worry; you're all set. However, we had to move all your observation equipment into your dorm room, okay? Now, here is your class schedule. You start Monday. You did learn the days of the week right?" Euban nodded, and the doctor patted him on the back, "Okay, you can go. Follow those two ladies, the blonde is Rachael, the brunette is Alex. We got you some jeans and a shirt, okay? You'll still have to salvage what you can from the pod." Euban suddenly remembered,

"My armor?" he asked the doctor frantically, "My weapons? I had to be sent early because the Ghaul attacked my ship! I need armament!" The doctor placed a hand on Euban's chest.

"Calm down. It's all fine. The other officials sent for you put it in your room. It's fine, and so are your weapons. We even got you a weapon charger." Euban let out a sigh of relief, and Harrison stood and began walking out of the room. As his hand was on the doorknob, he turned and said, "Oh, by the way, you have a," he looked at his papers, "minor concussion. Take it easy for a few days, okay?". Euban nodded and smiled, then turned to the chair, where a pair of clothes sat. Euban slipped on the pants and the shirt, a black one, before he turned towards the mirror. He sneered in disgust. If he was correct on average Human anatomy…he was a twig, and didn't have much in the way of muscle. But he was tall. He had messy, blonde hair and…Euban leaned towards the mirror. His eyes were black with nebulas of purple, the light shining over them and creating a bright film. Interesting. Euban ran his fingers over the left side of his face, where his spiky tribal tattoo still fanned out, curving around under his eye. Euban pulled his hand into a fist and felt his knuckles pop. So, he was still relatively strong. Archimedes had made sure Euban knew they could only do so much. If he didn't transform into himself every full moon, he would eventually become weaker, and more susceptible to Human diseases. Euban finally left the room, looking around. Rachael and Alex were sitting on a bench at the other end of the hall. They stood as Euban walked towards them.

"Hi," Rachael said, holding out her hand, "I'm…"

"Rachael." Euban interrupted her, grabbing her hand and shaking it.

"And you are Alexandra." he muttered, turning towards Alexandra, who gaped at him. Alexandra shut her mouth and nodded.

"You can call me Alex, if you want," she told him, obviously impressed. Euban released Rachael's hand as she stared at him, observing him. Finally, she seemed to collect her thoughts.

"So, uh…what do you want to do?" she asked him. Euban looked at her, and she realized his eyes shined purple. They were quite beautiful, actually.

"Well," Euban bit his lip, "I'm kinda hungry."

Rachael nodded, smiling. "Well, then let's go get you some food, huh?" Euban nodded,

"Can we stop by our room first? I want to grab some money." Rachael nodded, and the three left the hospital, getting in Rachael's car and driving over to the dormitories building. Euban got out of the car once they reached the building. "Stay here," he told them, "I'll only be a moment." Rachael and Alex nodded, and as Euban left, Rachael looked back at Alex, who was sitting in the back.

"He is so cute!" she giggled.

"Yeah," Rachael muttered, "but for a blind guy he seems to get around pretty good." Alex shrugged,

"He's only slightly blind. But he's hot." Rachael shook her head, smiling.

Euban pulled out his key and unlocked his room. He looked around. The room was lit by a single lightening orb in the corner, light dancing off the walls as the electricity flared inside the glass. Aeber equipment sat around the room, neatly organized, counterbalanced by several cardboard boxes sitting around the room. Sitting on the far wall was Euban's armor. Euban walked up to it, stroking the gleaming Wraithbone armor, which towered over him in his Human form. Euban suddenly heard a clatter and turned. He looked over his equipment,

"Who's there?" he asked. There was another clatter. Euban sighed and focused, turning his vision to Soulsight; a sort of infrared vision with purple and blue shades. Something stood out clearly in his vision. Euban returned to normal vision, and smiled at what he saw.

It was an elegant, lynx-like cat, with elongated, pearly eyes and medium length purple-white fur. It had a green jewel inset into its skull. The Jagea jumped down from the desk and walked over to Euban, who bent down and petted the creature, which purred. It was tall, and almost reached Euban's shins. Euban stroked the cat as it purred, and he felt it create its psychic bond with him. Archimedes had given him a friend. "Correas. That shall be your name. Correas." Correas purred, and Euban grinned, standing up and looking around. He suddenly saw another pair of jeans sitting on his chair, which sat in front of his Human computer. Euban walked up to it and felt the pockets. He had a wallet, key belt, everything. Euban quickly switched out the pants and found an iPod in the pocket. He turned and left. He'd have to look at the rest of his equipment later. Euban ran back out to the car and hopped in the passenger seat. "So where are we going?" he asked Rachael. Rachael started up the car.

"The Apahua mall. They've got pretty good food there, and we can go shopping. What's in the player?" she nodded towards Euban's iPod. Euban grinned.

"Oh," he muttered, "Just music."

"Oh. Cool." Rachael nodded, grinning. Euban grinned back. Rachael shrugged and put the car in gear, and they started off. Euban put on his headphones and pushed the "play" button. There was silence for a moment, then Archimedes' voice came from the headphones.

"Hello, Euban. Glad we could meet again. If you are listening to this then you must have landed on Earth. Your research begins now. The computer you have has a password, which is Angelica. All upper case. Inside are all the programs you will need to study Human culture, including daily updates from Prisma. You have the best Human computer protection and hacking capabilities. Learn what you can. And don't forget, you must change into your Aeber form once every month; otherwise, you will not be able to change in case of emergency. Now, your equipment. You have a small bag next to your desk that is called a "backpack". Your backpack has all your schoolbooks, pencils, and even a few data recorders. Now, in your Human form you cannot lift as much as one of your Strontium grenades. As such, we have given you a number of Human weapons to use; two pistols. Also, you have been given some psychic powers. These include shrouding and battle worthy telekinetic abilities. Just focus, and you will be able to vanish, walk through walls, summon objects…you get the idea. Study your textbooks. Oh, and take out your class schedule," Euban reached into his back pocket and pulled out his schedule while the iPod waited, 'Got it? Good. All right, the first class you have is Xenology. Of course, you already know about that. Next is Physics. Same thing, easy. The next is Music. Now, we have set you up with an instrument called an "electric guitar" in class, and there is one in your room. It is much like the Domius, but with different notes. Practice hard. And your fourth class is Gym. Easy enough. Now, remember, even though you are stronger than the average Human; don't push your abilities too far. You still need to transform every month, during the full moon. Also, look in your backpack. There will be a small injector and several small vials of green liquid. This will help you fight Human diseases. They are called "antibodies". Keep yourself under control. Don't forget to report back to me Euban." there was silence. Euban waited for a moment, until suddenly the voice returned. "Euban, I forgot to tell you…there is one trait, besides your vision, that we could not get rid of. Unfortunately, the sexual pheromones we give off are much stronger than that of a normal Human male. This will result in almost unrelenting attention from females and heightened hostility in males. I know that it could make your job difficult, but we managed to cut it back by about 37. But still, be careful around males." Euban waited for a second, making sure there was nothing else on the track, and then pulled off the headphones, shutting the iPod off. He closed his eyes as the thrumming of the engines filled his ears. He was tired for some reason. So tired…

So he slept.

Captain Adamis Lucifer stalked slowly up the long walk to the Court of Deliverance, his one good eye roving around in his socket. The other he had lost in a violent fight with an Aeber warrior on Octavus Prime. He was to be put on trial for the loss of a Primarch Crystal, caught by the Aeber ship that had blown up his cruiser just after he had jettisoned from the craft. Lucifer sneered; he wasn't going to die, he just knew it. He was too important to just be thrown away. But he was too angry to care. Lucifer was tall for a Ghaul, with bright white skin with red lines and patterns indented into his skin. His feet were hoofed, and his head was like that of a lizard. His eyes were bright red; the eyes of a killer. He had a long, serpentine tail and claws that he could use with deadly efficiency. Lucifer felt something jab him and whipped around. A larger Ghaul, a guard, was prodding him with a shock stick. It sneered at him, and Lucifer growled, smacking the guard with his tail. At this challenge the guard hissed, raising the prodder threateningly. Lucifer simply sneered again and stalked forward, through the rusty iron gates and into the Hall of Names. Upon each was the name of every Old One that had served in the Court of Deliverance. The walls were lit by bright blue torches that flickered, throwing dancing shadows on the walls. After about five minutes Lucifer reached the end of the hall. He pushed open the doors and stepped into the large, open room that was the Court of Deliverance. Lining the walls were the members of the Council. Each was as skeletal in life as a ten-year corpse, and they writhed as though in pain, bound for eternity by the Void. On each side of their cases were two speakers that projected their will, and Lucifer growled as the door was shut behind him. There was silence for a moment. Then, one of the corpses spoke.

"Adamis Lucifer, do you know why you have been summoned to the Court of Deliverance?" Lucifer sneered, trying to act strong.

"Aye," he muttered, "I do." the corpse writhed for a moment, and then spoke again.

"And why are you here?" it asked. Lucifer straightened up.

"I have been charged with-"

"Traitorous!" the corpse bellowed, cutting him off, "You allowed a Primarch Crystal to fall into Aeber hands!" Adamis looked at his feet.

"I am sorry, Lord." he finally said lamely.

"Sorry?" bellowed the corpse, "Sorry! We sent the entire Carrion Fleet to New Mecca to recover it! We lost half our fleet getting it back, and even then, the Aeber could have downloaded over half of its data? Sorry? Pah!" the corpse finally stopped talking. It was breathing heavily, its sickly thin rib cage moving in and out. Finally, it spoke again. "We have decided not to have you killed, Lucifer." Lucifer looked up, "Notice only your rank is saving you. You will be demoted to Petty Officer, and will be sent on a scientific search-and-destroy. Do you know who this is?" one of the corpses raised its hand, and an image appeared in the large well in front of Adamis. An Aeber captain, dressed in beautiful armour…

"Euban Angelica." Lucifer growled.

"Ah," said a corpse, "So you have been acquainted?" Adamis nodded.

"Many times," he sneered, " He gave me this." Adamis pointed to the scar over his milk-white right eye. The corpse raised his hand, and the image disappeared.

"Your new mission, Adamis," the corpse muttered, "Is to find that Aeber, and kill him."

Lucifer simply nodded.

Euban felt someone shake him awake. He sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"We're here sleepy head!" Rachael whispered into his ear. Euban nodded and got out of the car, shutting the door and yawning. He dropped the iPod into the open car window and headed into the mall with Rachael and Alex. The mall was huge, three stories tall with shops lining every edge. Large, moving staircases ran up to the higher balconies and an elevator sat at one end. A large tree sat in the center, burying its roots into the paved ground. Benches sat in the open-air section of the court, on which people sat, talking, reading, or just thinking. Rachael and Alex led Euban to a large food court, and Euban sat at one of the tables. Rachael and Alex didn't notice he was sitting for a second. Then Rachael turned. "What are you doing," she asked him. Euban looked up, surprise writ on his face, "We have to order our food." Rachael grinned, pointing. Euban nodded and followed them to the long line. Euban pulled out a small device in his pocket. It was a tiny, hand held computer. Euban pulled out the small stick from the side slot and sorted through the computer. The palm pilot had his equipment list, maps, a quick information center, and a small research center. Euban thought about what he had learned so far and suddenly saw words scroll across the screen. He looked closer and saw that the computer had written what he had thought. He grinned; the machine must be attuned to his psychic signal. He tapped Rachael on the shoulder.

"I'm going to go sit down." he told her, indicating one of the tables. She nodded.

"What do you want?" She asked him. He shrugged.

"Whatever you're having." He said. She nodded again, and Euban left to go sit down. As he did he noticed a small sign that read:

TOURISTS!

Interested in seeing the planet bearers and space stations? Well, have we got a deal for you! For just a few dollars you can take a three-hour trip to the planet bearer Markus IV!

Hurry up! This sale will end soon!

Euban cocked his head. It would be nice to do ship research for Archimedes. He walked back over to Rachael. "Can we go see the ships?" Her asked her. She looked at him, and he pointed at the sign. She shrugged,

"Sure. Why not? We'll go after we eat, okay?" she began to turn away, then she looked back at Euban in amazement. "How did you read that?" she asked in amazement. Euban gave her an odd look. "You're partially blind, right?" Rachael asked, pointing at Euban's eyes. Euban looked at the floor and ran a hand through his head. He had messed up already.

"Umm…I got a new bionic implant that allows me to see in a different spectrum…" his voice trailed off, before he turned to Rachael, "I can see pretty well. So can we go see the ships?" Rachael nodded slowly, giving Euban an odd look, and Euban grinned weakly, going back over to the table and sitting down. He set the computer on the table, propping it upright on the saltshaker, and he thought, his research scrolling onto the screen.

"Year 2020 of the 56TH Age, date, 5/25/20, 5:45 PM. I arrived on Earth just a few hours ago in terrible shape. There was a terminal failure with the pod, which crash-landed somewhere on campus," Euban pulled out a small brochure in his pocket with a map of the campus on it, transferring it to his data recorder, "This is roughly where I think I landed," A small red triangle appeared on the screen, "I am in good shape; no damage to me or my armament, although I have yet to see how badly the equipment in the pod was damaged. I seem to be doing well in communicating with the Humans I have met; a male named Dr. Harrison, who works with the CIA, and two females, Rachael and Alex. My room and equipment in it are in good shape as well; thank you Archimedes for the Jagea. I have named him Correas. I'm sure he will come in handy for company. End of observations thus far." Euban shut the computer off as Rachael and Alex came over to him, putting some food on the table. "Which one's mine?" Euban asked as they unwrapped their food. Rachael pointed to a meat patty between two pieces of bread. In his hunger, Euban bit into the hamburger and almost gagged. As he managed to gulp a piece down, he realized this was only one hardship of many he would have to endure in his research.

And he had no idea it would get worse.

Adamis felt a presence; weak, but it was there. He turned just as a cherub came floating through his door. A small, infant sized creature, it had a pair of wings that bore it aloft. Often used to carry messages around ships and stations, they were deformed versions of their former selves. The cherub flew over to Adamis and handed him a small roll of parchment.

"Who from?" Adamis asked the creature.

"The Council of Deliverance," the deformed monster croaked, "Your ship is ready to be launched into space." Adamis nodded, and the cherub flew off, cackling stupidly at its accomplished task. Adamis shook his head and walked down to the launch bay; it was only a five or ten minute walk. The scout ship he was being launched from was only five or six kilometers long, easy to cross in a few minutes with all the transporters throughout the ship. He entered the launch bay and turned towards one of the closets set into the wall. He grabbed his flight suit and his helmet, suiting up and hopping into his single-pilot Archangel space fighter. The ship was armed with Deathwing cannons and two double-barreled pulse guns; easily able to tea through equally armored vessels. Adamis locked himself into the pilot seat and flicked on his pict unit screen. The face of the flight transponder appeared on the screen.

"Check functions." The transponder said lamely.

"Fuel…check," Adamis muttered, checking the fuel, "Systems…check. Backups…check. Armament…check. Supplies…" he ran through the list. When he was finished, the transponder gave him a nod.

"Mission start is "go" on your command. Good luck…Petty Officer." the transponder sneered savagely as he reminded Adamis of his punishment. Adamis made a rude hand gesture and shut off the pict unit, flicking the engine switches.

"Prepare launch boost." He growled to his computer. The computer beeped in response, and Adamis began to slowly pull back the accelerator, before thinking, _to Hell with this_, and jerking back on the accelerator. The ship shot forward with astonishing speed, the warp drive lasers peppering the space in front of him with energy as soon as he entered space. A flickering tunnel appeared in front of the ship as Adamis entered Warp, and he sat back. Nothing left to do but wait.

Euban felt the elevator shudder and sat up straighter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here!" the tour guide announced. Euban rubbed his eyes as the elevator doors opened. The class of children in front of them all gasped with awe as they entered the main hall of the planet bearer Markus IV. Consoles and computers sat all along the walls, mainly holding information for tourists. Euban made his way over to one of the computers set into the wall. Words were plastered onto the screen.

HISTORY

ARMAMENT

BUILDING PROCESS

PLEASE SELECT ONE TO BEGIN YOUR VIRTUAL TOUR

Euban cocked his head sideways. Finally, he pressed HISTORY. The screen paused, then new words scrolled across it.

'THE _MARKUS IV_ WAS THE FIRST PLANETBEARER TO BE BUILT. SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO CARRY THE BULK OF THE UNITED STATES FLEET ACROSS THE GALAXY BY MEANS OF THE WARP…'

Euban nearly gaped in shock. They dared use the powers of the Warp? Euban had heard of this mystical Shadow realm; the opposite of reality itself, where there were no rules of physics, or of anything for that matter. The Aeber themselves traveled through space by means of what was known as the Astronomican; Slipspace. A realm nestled between space and the Warp. Much safer, more predictable, and faster than the Warp or space travel. The Aeber had been using it for centuries as both a weapon and a tool. When used on a wounded Aeber, it sped up the healing process, so a wound that would take weeks to heal could be fixed in days. As a weapon, it speed-decayed enemy ships, rendering them useless and turning them into ghost ships. Beacons of the Astronomican were natural anomalies that occurred every few decades or centuries; they were natural ways of obtaining the power of the Astronomican. The Aeber had been keeping the Beacons out of Ghaul hands ever since the traitor Lucifer had brought them Aeber technology. Euban continued to read the history,

'THE _MARKUS_ CAN CARRY UP TO SEVENTY THREE _LEXINGTON_ CLASS CRUISERS, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN _DREADNOUGHT_ CLASS WARSHIPS, AND UP TO TWO-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SEVEN _PENSSYLVANIA_ BATTLECRUISERS. THE _MARKUS IV_ WAS PRESENT AT THE BATTLE FOR FORGER'S GATE, AND HELPED SPEARHEAD THE ASSAULT ON THE BERLIN ASTEROID.'

Euban waited, but no more information came across the screen. Euban pushed the part of the screen labeled 'ARMAMENT'. Words began to scroll across the screen again,

'THE _MARKUS IV_ IS ARMED WITH PORT AND STARBOARD LANCE BATTERIES AND FIFTEEN TRI-BARRELED MAC'S. THE REST OF THIS ARMAMENT IS CLASSIFIED.'

Euban cocked an eyebrow. Classified?

"We'll see about that." He whispered. He looked around and spotted a small door that said 'Employees only'. Euban went until he found Rachael. "I have to go to the restroom," he whispered in her ear, "I'll be back in a bit." Rachael nodded, and Euban noticed the tiniest hint of affection overcoming him. He quickly stifled it; none of that. No distractions. Euban walked over to a dark corner and pretended to talk into his cell phone. Quite suddenly, he vanished, using his psychic abilities to hide himself. He proceeded towards the door, wall walking through it. He found himself in a large room, filled with screens. No one else was inside. Locking the door, Euban walked over to one of the screens. He sat in the chair before it and began typing,

Access data protocols

PASSWORD

Euban pulled out his palm pilot, plugging it into the computer and hacking into the system.

PASSWORD ACCEPTEDPLEASE WAIT

Euban waited patiently, until a single file appeared. Euban smiled; it was all here. Armament, blueprints, manufacturing details, everything Archimedes would need to study Human ships. Euban steadily began typing download commands. A small bar appeared across the screen, DOWNLOAD written over it. Slowly, the bar began to fill up. Euban sat back as the files began to download onto his palm pilot, waiting. Finally, DOWNLOAD SUCCESSFUL flashed over the screen. Euban removed his palm pilot from the hack pad, returning the screen to its original format. Euban went to the door, opening it just a bit. No one was around; the tour had moved on. Euban pushed the door the full way and went out the door, following the sounds of talking coming from further down the ships corridor.

"Year 2020 of the 56TH Age, date, 5/25/20, 7: 23 PM. I am giving my second report for the day. Tomorrow I will scavenge what I can from the pod wreckage; it will be Saturday, and Rachael and Alex are taking the day off to play a game called "vollee ball". I will join them after I have sorted out the equipment. I got my first taste of Human food today, and frankly I can't believe how they survive on the stuff. It is very slimy and foul tasting; maybe I will find something that I can eat that suits my tastes. I observed Human teen behavior and found they are very relaxing. It seems that thus far what I have seen of the Human race is not at all martial in any way. If anything they are made up of unfit, peaceful civilians. Maybe it is simply because I do not research them during times of war. End of observations."

Euban shut off the palm pilot research device as Correas jumped onto his lap. Euban stroked the cat and smiled. It was nice to have something to remind him of home. Thinking such made him remember the several boxes of unpacked equipment lying around the place. Euban stood and pushed his suit of armour into the tall closet with great difficulty. It was much heavier while he was in his Human form. Euban moved all of his unpacked equipment into various cabinets and drawers, moving his backpack to the far wall. He opened a cardboard box duct taped together by cutting the tape with a small knife he always carried. He reached in the box and pulled out a weapons charger. He plugged this into an outlet on the far wall, next to his tall cabinet, hiding it under a t-shirt. Next, he opened a box with various Human clothing. The third box held the pistols Archimedes was talking about. Both of them were very large compared to his body. He opened up another small box and found a ball, about the size of a soccer ball, with the same pentagonal-shaped figures on it. Euban smiled; a Galruk ball. Pushing on various buttons made different synth sounds and tones come from it. It seemed to be fit for Human use. Euban smiled and put the ball on his desk. He opened the last box, a tall one leaning against the wall. It was the electric guitar Archimedes had spoken of, except rigged up to look like a Domius. It looked like a Human guitar except the hole was smaller, and there were only three strings. The back was dark red and curved, one side silver and shaped like a blade, designed after an Aeber commander used his Domius to fend off a group of enemy soldiers. Euban picked up the instrument and grinned; it had been a while since he had played. He stroked the strings, and the eerie, melodious notes swam softly from the instrument. Euban felt something strange come over him as the notes wafted past him. Was he homesick? Euban pushed these thoughts from his mind as he ran his fingers over the delicate instruments strings. He couldn't wait to return home.

Adamis jerked awake as his seat delivered a small electric shock. He had fallen asleep. The pict screens in front of him showed a small planet compared to others he had visited; nothing special.

"Earth." Adamis whispered. Populated by Humans. He had had to study data from a captured Aeber ship to learn about Humans. He was being sent to hunt down his enemy, Euban. Adamis ran his hand over his scar and eye. Although he could have easily had it replaced with a bionic eye, Adamis kept it almost like a trophy.

And a reminder.

Adamis typed in the landing sequence and grabbed the joystick, playing it slowly left. He was going to sneak through the planetary docking ring around the planet. With the cloaking technology he had, he probably wouldn't be seen. He increased power to the engines and shot through the ring, his craft shaking violently as he broke atmosphere. Adamis shut off the engines and sent his craft into a steep dive, aiming for a small grassland. As soon as he was 100 feet above the ground he turned on the grav engines, pulling the joystick forwards. The craft's nose swept the tall grass as the grav engines held it above ground. With practiced skill Adamis maneuvered the fighter into a small forest, turning on the cloaking device and stepping from the ship. He would have to find a way to blend into Human society.

And he knew exactly how. Adamis pulled out a small tracking device, searching for his target that he was to eliminate and act as. The Human was only a few hundred meters away, apparently out for a jog. And he was coming right for the opposite side of the woods. Adamis smiled evilly, flicking out his wrist knives.

It was almost too easy… "Let the hunt begin." He muttered, putting on his hunting mask.

Chapter Three: Understanding 

Euban stalked slowly through the grass, following his map. He would have thought that a drop pod would be easy to find in this mess of a jungle, especially considering that he had landed right outside the campus. He heard the beeping from his finder increase and looked at the machine; he was only a few yards away. Peering around, Euban saw it, nestled in a torn patch of trees. Black patches marked where fires had burned, now long extinguished. Euban grimaced as he noticed the equipment, most of it strewn about the ground, blackened from ash or in such bad repair that it was unnecessary to take them at all. Euban gathered the few supplies he could into bags, taking them to the garage that Archimedes had told him about. He unlocked it and brought the stuff inside, lights glowing inside the fish tanks; the only source of light, rippling along the walls. Euban set the undamaged equipment on one side of his workbench and the damaged equipment on the other, pulling out a fuser and an electronic tapper. He looked at the clock. Only 10:30 AM. This was going to take a lot of work.

Euban turned as someone knocked on the door of his garage. He looked at the clock. Noon. He had been able to repair most of his equipment in only an hour and thirty minutes? He shrugged and set down his tools, opening the side door slightly. It was Rachael.

"Oh," Euban muttered, stepping out and closing the door, "It's you. What's up?" Rachael shrugged.

"You still wanna play volleyball?" She asked him. He nodded.

"Let me change. I'll be out in a minute." Rachael nodded and Euban went back inside, changing from his pants to his swim trunks. He grabbed a bag and put in his research equipment and the two pistols. On top of this he put a sweatshirt and some other miscellaneous items, before going out to the car. Rachael and Alex were leaning against it, both of them wearing tanning suits. Rachael smiled as Euban came out, his eyes hidden behind a pair of silver sunglasses. He blushed and looked at the ground for a second, smiling. As he stepped into the car, he whispered to Rachael, "You look good." Rachael said nothing, just smiled and started the car, before the three drove off. Euban leaned back and closed his eyes as Rachael turned on the radio, flicking through the channels, every once in a while saying something like, "icky" or "horrible". As she went to a news station, Euban just managed to snatch a man reporting.

"An unidentified craft came through the planet rings today, authorities are denying rumors that it was a government vessel…" Rachael switched the channels.

"Wait," Euban said, leaning forward, "Turn it back." Rachael turned back to the previous channel.

"…I assure you, it was not an American government vessel. German, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese governments are denying claims it was one of their craft. It was not Army or Air Force craft. It did not respond to our attempts to communicate or our requests for identification. Ladies and gentlemen, we will get to the bottom of this. Thank you." Euban listened, but there was nothing more. Rachael's finger floated over the stations, and Euban nodded. She clicked one, and music filled the car. Euban rolled down his window, putting his arm outside the car and thinking. An unidentified vessel? Could it be his pod? But no…he came in yesterday. Euban felt himself go pale as he realized what it must have been.

"Ghaul…" he whispered. Rachael looked at him.

"What?" she asked him. Euban jumped.

"Oh," he grinned, 'Nothing." Rachael nodded.

"You okay?" she asked him, "You look pale." Euban shook his head.

"I'm fine." he assured her. Rachael nodded unbelievingly and went back to her driving. It was several more minutes before they reached the beach, and Euban looked out as they found a parking space.

"Come on," Rachael told him, "We're here." Euban nodded and grabbed his bag, following them down to the beach. He stared around, mentally telling the tiny camera in his sunglasses to take video feed of this. He followed Rachael and Alex down to a spot of beach where several males and females were hitting a ball. After introductions he let Alex and Rachael go play as he waited for another person to show up.

"It'll keep the teams even," he told her. She nodded, and Euban watched the game. During the time between when the game began and when the last person showed up Euban had learned almost everything about the games and his opponents. All of them went to the same college, and they were all roughly the same age. Overall body composition was the same, and they were all very fast with high neuron counts. When the other male, named Adam, showed up, Euban stood to shake his hand. The male simply stared at Euban and went to the game. Euban dismissed this and soon found himself on Rachael and Alex's team. The game was quite enjoyable, Euban thought, as they went back home. As they were walking back to the car, Euban had noticed the Human that hadn't taken his hand slip on a black sweatshirt over his shirt and jeans, even though it had been nearly 80 degrees outside, and worse with the humidity. As the boy had looked around, Euban noticed that he had a slight scar over his right eye.

"No…" he had whispered. The boy suddenly saw him staring and locked eyes with him, then nodded slowly, grinning an evil grin. Euban slept fitfully that night.

And dreamt of death…

Euban awoke to Rachael pounding on the door.

"Come on," she said through the door, "time for school." Euban found most of the day quite enjoyable, now that he was used to the routine; he had been going to this school for several days. He had especially been looking forward to today; he had his first guitar lesson. Euban got up, dressed, and grabbed his backpack and Domius, which was in its case on the far wall. He unlocked his door and suddenly something hit him in the nose. He cursed and stumbled back, and Rachael came over to him, laughing slightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, helping him up. He nodded, sniffing and grinning slightly.

"What happened?" he asked her. She smiled guiltily.

"I went to knock to wake you up again and you opened the door just before I hit it," she said, helping him up, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Euban muttered. He suddenly noticed that Rachael was still holding onto his hand. He squeezed it slightly and felt her let go, and she smiled sheepishly. Euban walked past her and went into the kitchen, opening their fridge and making himself a glass orange juice. He heard a yawn and turned to see Alex walking from the room with nothing but a t-shirt on. She gasped and ran back inside her room, shutting it quickly. Euban shook his head, chuckling to himself and setting his backpack and Domius by the door. Alex came back in, wearing jeans this time, her makeup on and her hair tied back.

"Morning." she said to Euban, waving slightly. Euban grinned and said,

"Morning." back. Alex sat down at the table and closed her physics book, yawning as Rachael came back in the room. As Rachael passed him she made a fist and slowly moved it towards Euban's head, bumping his cheek lightly as she passed him. Euban grinned again and went to sit down at the table in the center of the room. Rachael noticed his guitar case propped against the wall by his backpack and said,

"You taking guitar this morning too?" Euban looked up and nodded.

"Yeah. Figured I should take something easy." Alex snorted into her eggs.

"Easy," she choked, "all our classes are easy for you. You do, like, a nights worth of homework in a few hours. Come on genius, an easy class?" Euban grinned slightly.

"I'm not that good," he murmured shyly. Alex shrugged and muttered,

"whatever," before going back to her eggs. Euban finished his orange juice and brushed his teeth just as Rachael called, "ready to go?" Euban rinsed his toothbrush and walked quickly out into the living room, grabbing his backpack and Domius before following Alex and Rachael out the door. Once they got to the building where the guitar lessons were being held Alex left them, walking over to the Physics building for a lecture. Rachael and Euban went up to the guitar room together, talking about favorite types of music and such. When they got to the door they found it was locked, and so sat down in the hallway outside. Euban set his case in his lap and unzipped it, pulling out his Domius and stroking it.

"Whoa," Rachael muttered, "that's a…uh…unique guitar." Euban nodded.

"It's oriental style." he lied. Rachael shrugged and pulled out her instrument, an ugly, round, brown thing. Euban noticed that she plucked the strings instead of moving her hand over them. Euban shifted his body and ran his fingers over the strings, the soft, unearthly hum issuing from the instruments speakers. Rachael looked up and watched as Euban thrummed the instrument gently, before he looked up. "What?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"It just sounds weird," she said, "and you barely touch the strings." Euban nodded.

"I know," he told her, "it's designed to not pick up my motion, like yours, but my electromagnetic vibrations. I never actually touch it." Rachael nodded, watching as Euban went back to playing his beloved instrument.

"Who taught you to play?" she asked. Euban did not look up.

"My parents." He lied. Rachael nodded.

"You're lucky," she murmured, "both my parents are dead." Euban looked up as Rachael sniffed. "They died in a car wreck last year. September second." Euban nodded slightly.

"I'm sorry." Rachael nodded, and Euban stroked the strings on his instrument, an eerily sad tune rising from it. The sound of the music seemed to make Rachael remember something, and she cleared her throat.

"Euban," she asked him, grinning slightly, "do you know how to dance?" Euban looked up, grinning back.

"Not the slightest idea how," he replied, "why?"

"Well, a friend of mine told me about a party going on tonight in the public recreation center," Rachael said, "and Alex and I are going to it. Do you want to go with us?" Euban shook his head.

"No thank you. I can't dance." Rachael's reply was so sudden it took Euban aback.

"I can teach you!" Euban looked at her, at the look in her eyes. Was that…longing? Euban thought. What would happen at these dances? How did Humans dance? Euban guessed it was quite different than Aeber dancing. Rachael's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Please?" she asked him pleadingly. Euban thought for a moment longer, then nodded.

"Alright," he told her, and she smiled, "how long is it?"

"Three hours," she told him. Then, seeing his surprised look, she said, "but we don't have to go for the whole time."

"No, no it's alright," Euban told her, running his hands softly over his Domius, "it's okay. We can go the whole time." Rachael smiled at him, and went back to plucking her instrument. Euban began to go back to playing but suddenly looked up, a thought forming in his mind. "Are we going to this…together?" he asked her. Rachael looked up.

"What, you mean a date?" Euban nodded. Rachael grinned slightly and muttered, "If you want." Euban thought. Was it worth it? Certainly it may give him better insight into the teen world and state of mind. Euban looked Rachael in the eye and nodded, and ran his hand over the Domius' strings. A low hum issued from the instrument, making Euban's thoughts drift, and soon he was in a different world, absent mindedly playing his instrument as the melodious notes carried him away.

Euban didn't know how it was possible that the day could go by so quickly, but soon it was 7:30 and they were late.

"C'mon Euban," he heard Rachael yelling from the main section of the apartment.

"I'm coming!" Euban yelled back, stuffing the two pistols in the largest part of his pockets. According to his research this is what popular kids wore. Euban observed himself in the mirror. His hair was messy, yet tidy at the same time. Nice paradox. Euban was wearing a plain black shirt and long, somewhat baggy urban camouflage pants, with a large belt. A pair of dog tags clinked softly around his neck. Euban made sure all of his equipment was in his backpack; he'd only need the pistols on him for protection. The rest he could grab when he needed it. Euban bowled out of his room and charged after Rachael and Alex, jumping in the car. Rachael flipped a switch and the hum of the grav engines blared momentarily in Euban's ears, before they were off. They crossed the fifteen or so mile campus in about ten minutes, and when they arrived Euban was surprised to see a long line of kids getting tickets.

"Great," Rachael muttered, seeing the line, "we'll never get in." Alex, however, got right out of the car and stepped up, passing the line as Euban and Rachael followed, confused.

"Hey Adam," Alex said, stopping at the front of the line next to a boy with his hood up. Black hair spilled over his skin, which was very pale. But it was his eyes, the eyes that made Euban think. They were red.

"High," Adam said simply, nodding to Euban and holding out his hand, "sorry, I forgot about this at the volleyball game." Euban nodded back and took the hand, shaking it quickly, before they both withdrew.

"Mind if we wait in line with you?" Alex asked, just as Adam stepped up to the ticket table.

"Sure," he muttered, handing the chaperone behind the counter a five dollar bill. She took it, thanked him, and handed him a ticket. Alex smiled, jumping behind Adam and stepping on someone's foot, forcing her way into the line. She in turn handed the lady fifteen dollars, giving a ticket to Euban and Rachael too. As Euban stepped through the doors however, he noticed a pair of armed guards standing next to a metal detector. Euban's eyes went wide and he cursed silently; the pistols! Maybe they wouldn't notice if he just stepped through really quickly behind Rachael. Rachael seemed to notice Euban's nervousness and turned.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Nothing," he muttered, "just the warm air." Rachael shrugged, turning to walk into the metal detector. Euban waited until she had stepped through, took a deep breath, and then stepped through the metal detector. Instantly the alarms blared and one of the guards stopped him.

"Your backpack buddy," he told Euban, indicating his backpack with the metal detecting stick he carried. Euban grinned and nodded, apologizing and setting it on the belt that ran bags through and into a room for storage. Euban looked at the guard, who waved him onwards. Euban realized he didn't want to send him through again and kept walking, following Rachael and Alex. As they neared the gym Euban noticed that the pulsing of his vision was growing faster, and he realized that the bass in the next room was causing his vision waves to increases. Soon, he had a total vision field instead of his normal pulsing view. Euban stared around in awe, his vision becoming a solid field as they stepped through the doors and into the dance room. Music blared from a set of large speakers, and a disc jockey was jiving to the music through his headphones. Euban stared around the gym. A huge clump of people took up most of the gym, where people were dancing front to back or front to front in ways that Euban was sure wasn't allowed normally. Small strings of students were talking or dancing outside the group, but mostly everyone was in the boil of people. Large, square pillars reared up to the ceiling, supporting it and the speakers that blared music over the crowd. Rachael and Alex stared around for a moment, before Alex spotted Adam and dragged him over to join them. The three started towards the large clump as Euban looked around, staring at the lights dancing across the ceiling. Rachael suddenly stopped and ran back, grabbing Euban's hand.

"Come on!" she yelled over the noise. Euban looked at her.

"Where are we going?" he asked her.

"To the middle," she yelled back, "no one cares how you dance in there." Euban was about to protest but Rachael pulled hard, dragging him into the mass of students. Euban could see people staring at his tattoo, but mostly at his eyes as they glowed purple in the dark. Several girls winked at him and made certain gestures that Euban did not return, just followed Rachael deeper and deeper into the heart of the clump. Suddenly he noticed a girl with long hair dyed red wearing almost nothing that resembled decent clothing; a tiny skirt and what looked like a bra. A piercing glinted above her eyebrow. She was dancing with some guy that was obviously enjoying himself too much. The girl looked up as Euban passed, and seemed to stop for an instant, staring at his eyes. Suddenly, she smiled, making a certain gesture with her rear towards him. Euban just smiled and nodded, following Rachael's hand. Finally, she stopped, turning and facing Euban. "I'm gonna teach you how to dance now, okay? Just follow my hips."

"What?" Euban asked, before Rachael turned around, pressing her rear end against Euban's front, her hips and body moving in flawless time with the music. Euban stood for a second, then thought, _what the hell. It's for the good of the mission._ He felt Rachael grab his hands, placing them on the sides of her hips. Euban smiled slightly, and then began to move. His body followed Rachael's, the two moving in seamless rhythm together, moving like water with the beat. Euban spotted Alex and Adam dancing next to them, and Adam met Euban's eyes. He grinned slightly, and Euban grinned back, pretending to act friendly. Actually, he was sort of enjoying this. It felt…good. Euban shook the thoughts out of his head. This is just a mirage; a way to keep his eyes on Adam. See if he really was Ghaul. Euban's vision suddenly went black as the pounding in his eardrums stopped, and he fumbled for a moment, before his pulsing vision returned, flaring out as the disc jockey spoke to the assembled students.

"Alright now," he called through the microphone, "how ya'll feeling?" Euban's vision blared wildly as the students around him screamed, cheering the DJ, who grinned. "Good," he said, "nice to know you're having a good time. We're gonna start strobing, picking up the music pace here a bit. Ya'll ready?" Euban heard the people around him cheer and turned to Rachael.

"What does he mean by strobing?" he asked her as the music blared up again, fast paced techno music now.

"Start the strobe light," she called over the music, placing her body against his once again. Euban shrugged, and suddenly noticed something.

Alex was dancing with someone else.

Suddenly Euban's vision was filled with white light, blinding him. He cried out, falling as he was pushed to the ground. What was happening? He felt someone grab his arm.

"Euban," it was Rachael, "what is it?" Euban sat up, staring around. But it was useless. He was blinded.

"I can't see," he told her, "where's Adam?" There was silence for a moment.

"I don't know," Rachael said, "I can't see him through the crowd. Can you stand?" Euban nodded, pushing himself off the ground, balancing perfectly. What was going on with his eyesight? Suddenly, he had a thought.

"Is the strobe light on?" he asked Rachael.

"Yeah," she replied, "why?" Euban nodded.

"The light is reflecting off my eyes and clouding my retina. I won't be able to see while that thing is on." Euban suddenly noticed his sight return, the blue field of his vision playing out before him. He reached into his pockets, feeling the pistols, looking around for Adam. Where was he? Euban suddenly saw something flying towards him and sidestepped. A gloved fist shot by him, missing Euban by inches. Euban grabbed the arm and pulled, and a figure clothed in black with a plastic black mask on flew past him, ramming into the crowd of people and absorbing into their ranks. Euban cursed and stared around, crouching down.

"Euban," Rachael asked fearfully, "what's going on?"

"I don't know," Euban told her, grabbing her and pulling her in, "stay close." He grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him, the other hand thumbing the safety off one of the pistols and pulling it from his pocket. He stared around, looking for his attacker. After a while, he felt his heart slow, and he turned the safety back on, pocketing the pistol once again.

"It's okay," Rachael said finally, "let's dance." Euban felt her grab his hands place them on her hips again, the pair of them moving together once more, however reluctant he was to let down his guard. They grinded for…Euban couldn't remember how long. All he knew was that, for once in his life, he was enjoying something other than battle, although the attack still lingered in the back of his mind.

Still, he was enjoying something other than killing.

After a while, Rachael stopped moving as a very long song ended.

"I'm gonna go sit," she said, "I want to get a drink."

"Want me to come?" Euban asked.

"No, it's okay," she yelled, smiling, "practice some more with some girl. I'll come back when I'm ready." Euban nodded, and ceased dancing, looking around. Suddenly, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder, one that turned him around. It was the girl with the red hair Euban had seen earlier. She was a few inches shorter than Euban, and he now noticed that she had put her hair in a ponytail, which easily reached to the middle of her back.

"Hi," the girl said, "My name is Vicky. Wanna dance?" Euban shrugged.

"Yes ma'am" he replied on instinct, his thoughts drifting. She grinned, looking slightly surprised.

"Yes ma'am?" she asked jokingly. Euban snapped back to reality.

"Sorry," he said quickly, "military family." Vicky smiled broadly, apparently taking this as a joke, and she turned around, grabbing Euban's hands and placing them around her waist. However, she did not let go, instead meshing her fingers within his. Her abdominal skin felt very warm, and Euban suddenly felt his fingers touch metal. Must be another piercing. How did she manage to get through the metal detector? Euban's thoughts were interrupted as he felt her push hard against his front, once twice, thrice. She was quite forceful. However, Euban soon caught on. He moved with her; when she pushed back, so did he, following her motions. Suddenly, the music stopped as the song ended, and a familiar song blared through the speakers, a classic, one that brought yells and screams of happiness from the crowd. Euban had heard it many times on the radio, a song by a band called…Limp Biscuit or something like that. He listened, dividing his attention between the song and the girl…and the people around him.

_Keeping it real, world wide baby…_

Vicky was moving faster now, harder, popping her body and sliding up and down along Euban's front. Euban felt sweat starting to flow down his face, and he took the chance to look around. As Vicky pressed herself harder against him, he realized how tired his legs were. He willed the pain away; he could stand it. He suddenly noticed one of the square pillars standing a few feet behind him, and he began to slowly back up, pulling him and Vicky towards it. He felt better with his back against a solid surface.

…_so somebody, anybody, everybody, get the fuck up!_

Euban recognized the word from the vulgar section of Human language. Interesting that they hadn't censored it.

…_show me watcha got!_

Euban felt Vicky push harder again, running a hand along the side of Euban's face. Euban could sense her breathing becoming more intense, her body temperature rising. Was she enjoying this that much?

…_right now I just want somebody, anybody, everybody, to get the fuck up and show me watcha got!_

Vicky suddenly turned around as the beat quickened; this was a remix of the song. She pushed her front hard against Euban's, putting her hands around his neck, staring into his eyes. Euban felt her slowly lift his hands from around her back, moving them down to her buttocks. Euban felt her put her fingers over his, squeezing playfully. Euban responded, squeezing slightly harder, and she chuckled, placing her head on his chest. Suddenly, Euban noticed Adam, standing in the crowd behind Vicky. Euban nodded, and Adam suddenly just disappeared, vanishing into nowhere. Euban looked back down as Vicky looked up, staring into her eyes, and realized with dawning horror that they were red. Adam had changed bodies! Euban suddenly felt Vicky try and pull him towards her, trying to kiss him. Euban pulled his hands from her rear and pushed away, seeing the red eyes vanish into the crowd. Euban felt time slow, his senses picking up visions and sounds indistinguishable to Human eyes and ears. His pulsing view vanished, replaced by his Soulsight spectrum.

"Where are you?" Euban whispered, "Find him!" Euban suddenly picked an outline in the crowd of orange figures, a single person outlined in bright blue fog.

An enemy.

Euban switched to his normal vision, the blue field reappearing. However, the figure was outlined in bright orange now, like a ghost. Euban pushed his way through the crowd and suddenly found himself facing Rachael.

"Hey," she said, "Ready to dance?" Euban shook his head.

"There's something I must do," he said. Rachael followed his hand with her eyes as he reached into his pocket, thumbing the safety off the pistol and pulling it from his pocket.

"Euban," she asked so quietly that even Euban's super senses had trouble hearing her, "why do you have a gun?" Euban reached into his other pocket, drawing the second pistol and thumbing off the safety. Rachael gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "Euban, why do you have two guns?" she asked, scared. Euban simply looked her in the eyes.

"You can't tell anyone about this, okay? No one. Trust me." Rachael gulped and nodded. Euban felt a painful look cross his features and he pulled Rachael into a hug, whispering in her ear, "I'll be back." Rachael nodded subtly, and Euban pulled away, following the ghost figure as it swam across his vision. It was headed for the back door. Euban followed, putting the pistols in a ready position when he was far enough away from the dancers to go unnoticed. He noticed a slightly open door and walked towards it, pushing it open slowly, peering around. He couldn't see anyone. He slowly closed the door, looking around the alley. Suddenly a pipe swung at him from the shadow of the door, hitting him square in the face. Euban felt blood splatter from his nose and stumbled back, dropping the pistols. The figure reared above him, slamming the piping across his shoulders, and Euban hit the ground, which cracked under the force. As the figure swung the piping up again, Euban rolled away, the piping burying into cement. Euban looked up and noticed red eyes glowing from behind a black plastic mask, the curves glinting from the streetlights above. But even with the mask, Euban could not distinguish much of the face, as the light couldn't pierce the fabric of the figures hood. Euban flipped upright on his feet, grabbing one of the pistols. He raised it, feeling his wrist crack as the man kicked the weapon from his hand. The man pushed with his foot, throwing Euban backwards into a construction area. The man reached down, grabbed the pipe…and suddenly split. His body melted and reformed into four copies, each carrying the same section of piping, each dressed in the same identical clothing with the same black mask…each staring at him with the same evil eyes. Euban stood and wiped a trickle of blood from his mouth with his hand, looking up as he felt a drop of water fall on his face. It was raining. Soon, the sound of a thousand raindrops was creating a field of blue, and Euban thanked the gods'. Their timing couldn't be better. Time slowed, and Euban looked around, observing the situation. He needed a weapon, and his pistols were too far out of reach. He suddenly noticed a pile of some thin reddish metal bars. Each was about six feet long, and Euban reached down, feeling the ridges set into the metal. Rebar. Euban reached up and grabbed the bar at the four foot level, bending it, muscles straining. Finally, it snapped, creating a beautifully effective staff. Euban swung it around in wide arcs, before resting it along his arm, crouching down. No sooner had he done this, then the four copies charged, swinging the pipes back to strike. Euban brought the staff down hard into the ground and whipped it upright, sending a blast of energy straight into them. Two of the copies flew backwards, hitting a dumpster farther down the alley and crumpling to the ground. Another copy, unable to stop himself in time, rammed into the staff. His body impaled itself with a loud crunch, and blood flecked with rain splattered onto Euban's hands. The fourth copy slid along side the side staff, swinging his pipe at Euban's head. Euban ducked, and the pipe slammed into the brick wall, sending dust flying. Euban kicked out, and the figure crumpled at the stomach, slamming into the wall. Euban flipped the staff over his shoulder, throwing the limp dead copy from it. As soon as it hit the ground, the copy vanished, bursting into blue fog, and was gone. Euban turned his attention to the other three, turning his head. His hair flipped momentarily in front of his face, blinding him, and he saw a pipe's end being shoved towards his face. It hit him square in the face, throwing him head over heels backwards, and he landed hard in the dirt of the construction area. He pushed off, kicking the rebar staff up into his hands. He landed upright, flipping over the other two copies and swinging the staff behind him, knocking them to the ground. They flipped upwards, throwing themselves at him, and he brought the staff slashing sideways, and another gash of energy tore through the alley, smashing aside the copies and tearing huge gashes in the walls; chunks of brick and cement fell to the ground. Suddenly, Euban noticed that one of the copies was reaching down for something, and he noticed it was picking up the pistol. Euban stared, then suddenly saw the broken off section of rebar, lying in the dirt. Just as the copy raised the pistol, Euban dived, grabbing the broken section of rebar. A bullet slammed into the ground next to him, and he pushed off, leaping towards the wall and jumping off it. Time simply…froze, and Euban threw the rebar section, and time started again. The rebar flipped end over end, before it slammed into the copy's eye, flying through its skull and burying itself into the concrete. The copy vanished in a flash of fog, and Euban landed, turning his attention back to the copy and the original. But which was which? Euban crouched down as the two copies raised their pipes, preparing to strike. Then, one threw its piping. Euban just barely managed to knock it aside, but not the copy. The copy's foot slammed into Euban's chest, and Euban felt his ribs crack. He flew backwards once more, his back cracking loudly as he hit the back alley wall, the rebar staff falling from his hands. He slumped to the ground, waiting in pain for his body to heal its injuries. He looked up as he saw the two copies walking slowly towards him. Was this it? Suddenly, Euban looked past them, and noticed the pistols. They were lying about three feet apart, facing away from him down the alley, their grips inward. Euban thought.

It just might work.

Euban waited until the copies were almost upon him, then he launched, pushing off with his feet like a spring. A ripple of energy flew before him, knocking the copies backwards as he flew over them. He landed, somersaulting and grabbing the pistols, firing behind him. The bullets found their mark, hitting the copy on the left as he vanished in a flash of fog. Euban turned around slowly, facing the last figure.

"So," he whispered, raising the pistols, "just you and me now." The figure said nothing, just stood there. Suddenly there was a loud bang and the door leading to the dance floor flew open, and Rachael was revealed, staring into the alley. Euban looked from the figure to Rachael. "No…" he whispered. But the figure didn't go for Rachael. It leapt forward, punching Euban hard as it flew past him. Euban was knocked off his feet, the pistols flying from his hands as he fell hard to the ground, knocking the wind out of him. He heard footsteps and leapt upright, grabbing the rebar. It was coming back, coming back for her! He swung the staff around, preparing to strike…

Rachael screamed as the staff stopped, inches from the side of her head. Euban was breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling with each ragged breath, his eyes shining with power and control. They stood there for a moment, facing each other in the rain, blood mixing with the water on Euban's face as he brought the rebar slowly away from Rachael's face. She stood there, her shoulders shaking slightly with silent tears of fear. Euban stared for a second, then dropped the rebar, which clattered to the ground. Euban stepped forwards, pulling Rachael into a tight hug as she cried loudly, sobbing into his shoulder as he shushed her quietly.

"What was that Euban?" she asked him finally after she had stopped crying. Euban hesitated for a moment, then looked into her eyes.

"It would be best for you if you forgot, Rachael. It was scary, I know…but it was necessary." Rachael stared at him, her face cracking into tears once more, and she shoved her face into his chest, crying again as he held her tightly. He could only hope she could forget.

For the Human mind is a fragile thing…

Euban drove the three of them home that night. Alex was asleep in the seat behind them, and Rachael was staring out at the lights whipping by. As they were driving along, passing cars that were going too slow for them, Rachael turned to Euban.

"Euban," she began, "do you believe in alien life? Like another race of sentient beings out there, in the stars?" Euban looked at her in surprise.

"You've been dancing too much," he chuckled, returning his eyes to the road.

"No, I'm serious," Rachael said, grinning, "do you?" Euban thought for a moment, and then said.

"No. I do not. Well…maybe…I guess, sure." Rachael chuckled, and Euban grinned. It was nice to hear her laugh.

"Good," Rachael said finally," because you act like you're from another planet." Euban grinned slightly, pulling into the parking lot of their dormitory complex.

When Rachael and Alex had finally gone to bed, Euban was still wide awake. He felt confused because, for the first time, he didn't long to return home that night. He didn't want to go back to martial law, constant warfare. He wanted to stay here with Rachael and Alex, on earth. Live a normal life. He slept to visions of war and death that night, of friends and battle brothers long gone.

He dreamt of war.

The next day the two sat in the cafeteria, and Euban looked around, thinking. He had had a night filled of terrible dreams, of bad memories. He had also dreamed of Rachael, and the great time they had. Euban shook himself from these thoughts and returned to his research. Apparently certain types of teens sat at different groups tables. Exceptionally bright kids sat at one, sports-players at another, and popular kids at another group of tables. Average people just sat anywhere and ate, as long as they didn't enter another group's territory. The cafeteria was filled with noise and laughter and people talking loudly. Euban looked down at his Xenology notes and raised his hand slightly. His soda floated across the table and landed in his palm, and Euban took a swig without thinking. Euban suddenly realized that the table had gone quiet and looked up. Everyone was staring at him.

"What?" he asked, looking at Rachael. Rachael was staring at something in horror, and Euban looked at where she was pointing. His arm. Bulges were appearing in it, and long protrusions seemed to be worming their way out of Euban's skin. Euban's eyes went wide as bright red veins appeared on his vision; black for Humans. Euban gasped as a sharp pain flared through his arm.

"Euban," Rachael asked quietly, "what is that?" Euban looked around. Almost everyone was staring at him, and Euban finally got up, grabbing his things as the kids whispered amongst themselves.

"I've gotta go to the nurse," Euban muttered to Rachael, sweat forming on his forehead. The pain in his arm was becoming horribly unbearable. Euban tried to calm himself.

"I'll come with you." Rachael said, standing up.

"No," Euban pushed her back down, "no! I'll go alone! Don't follow me!" Rachael nodded and then sat down. Euban looked around and then ran, hurrying from the cafeteria and into the hall. _Calm yourself elite_, he thought, staring at his arm, _it's a Human infection, that's all_. Euban stared at his arm as he ran and suddenly felt himself run into someone. He stumbled and fell, standing up and looking around. A tall, muscular senior stood before him, a female next to him.

"What was that punk?" the male asked. Euban shook his head,

"Nothing," he muttered, "I'm sorry." The boy sneered.

"Oh, you ain't getting away that easily. I just paid for this jacket." Euban suddenly noticed that, in bumping into the male, he had knocked the coffee in the male's cup on the male's white jacket. The female pushed the senior towards Euban, making punching motions in the air.

"Look, I'm sorry," Euban gasped and hunched over as his arm screamed with agony, "please…" he fell to his knees as pain ransacked his body. He suddenly felt someone grab him and found himself staring into the boy's face. Euban had one second of dawning horror before the boy struck, punching Euban hard in the chest and sending him flying. Euban felt his instincts kick in, primal commands ringing through his body. He twisted in mid-air like a cat and landed on his feet, sliding along the smooth floor. He could feel cracked ribs and grasped at his chest. He felt his bones automatically heal themselves, bionic organs inside him mending his injuries. Euban felt his heart thumping in his head, and a single command ran through his brain.

Attack.

Euban jumped forward and flipped, sending his foot out in a powerful sidekick. The male coughed as Euban's foot made contact with his chest, and Euban felt bones break under the blow. Euban relaxed slightly as the male stumbled backwards, clutching at the female's arm. He looked up, his face going red.

"You're finished," he muttered, and Euban saw him flick out a knife. He suddenly saw a large crowd of people moving towards them, Rachael at their head. He paid for his mistake. The male lunged forward and jabbed, and Euban moved, but not fast enough. With agony he felt the blade slip through his left bicep, and he cried out, twisting and punching the male in the face. The male reeled, pausing and staring at Euban. Euban slowly reached over and grabbed the hilt of the knife, which was still stuck in his arm. He looked at Rachael, then at the blade. With a sickening sound he drew the blade from his arm, tossing it to the ground with a clatter. Dark red blood drained from the wound, which Euban promptly ignored. He was too caught up in the fight. His breathing doubled as he stared at his enemy, who was gaping at him in horror. Euban lunged forward and grabbed the male, lifting him up and throwing him, blood spattering onto the floor. The male smashed into one of the empty glass trophy cases on the wall and fell to the ground with a grunt, and Euban stepped forward, putting his foot on the males back. As the male tried to rise, Euban shoved downward, pressing the male against the shards of glass.

"I said please," Euban muttered, "now leave me alone." With that he simply turned and walked off, massaging his stabbed arm with his sweatshirt. He suddenly felt someone pull him into a closed room and found himself staring at Rachael.

"What the hell was that!" she yelled at him. He stared at her, then looked back at his arm, covering the wound with some paper towels and throwing his sweatshirt in the trash.

"Self defense," he muttered through the pain. Rachael chuckled angrily.

"Self defense?" she yelled at him, "You sent him through a god damn glass case! He stabbed you in the arm and you didn't even blink! And that's the second fight in two days. I saw what happened in the alley. You had guns Euban!"

"So what?" Euban yelled. Rachael seemed stunned and paused for a moment. Euban sneered, "why, did I do something wrong?"

"Yes!" she roared at him, "you did do something wrong! It is how you talk, what you say, how you act…like you're from a different planet! Are you stupid or something? You took a knife through your arm and all you can say is 'so'? You carry around two pistols and fight like a hellion and all you can say is 'so'? What is wrong with you?"

"Well I am so sorry I am different than you!" Euban bellowed, "Is it my fault that I protect your ass? I have certain things here that I need to do, reasons I am on this earth. And just because I have things I have to do doesn't mean you can criticize the way I do them." Euban stalked out, simply leaving Rachael standing there, savoring her rage. She remained angry with him all day, and when she went home she decided that she would watch him at school.

And she did. She watched him all day, all week, watched whom he talked too, what he did. She figured he was way too smart to be here for College; he did two hours of Physics in ten minutes. He seemed to especially excel in Xenology. His knowledge of alien possibility and lifestyles was amazing. She couldn't find anything about him on the internet or in the government files. He was a ghost. Untraceable. Rachael was beginning to become frustrated. She thought about his eyes too. They were so strange. Rachael had asked around and she couldn't find anyone that had heard of a bionic implant that allowed you to see. He had taken a knife through the arm and still fought, and his other arm had been acting weird. He was…too different, too weird, she thought. He fought behind her back, and he acted almost paranoid all the time, keeping to himself and watching people, especially those in black. Then, one day while she was working, someone came up behind her.

"Do not turn around." The person whispered. It was a male voice, deep with a touch of anger to it. Rachael felt something being pushed into her hand. "Want to learn about your friend Euban? Listen to this." Rachael took the tape, and then turned, whipping around. But there was no one there. The man had simply…vanished. Rachael looked around, then down at her hand. There was a small disc in it. She went back to the dorm room and inserted it into her iPod device. There was silence for a moment. Then suddenly, an old, croaky voice spoke, soft as silk.

"Hello, Euban. Glad we could meet again. If you are listening to this then you must have landed on Earth. Your research begins now. The computer you have has a password, which is Angelica. All upper case. Inside is all the equipment you will need to study Human culture, including daily updates from Prisma. You have the best Human computer protection and hacking capabilities. Learn what you can. And don't forget, you must change into your Aeber form once every month; otherwise you will not be able to change in case of emergency. Now, your equipment. You have a small bag next to your desk that is called a "backpack". Your backpack has all your schoolbooks, pencils, and even a few data recorders. Now, in your Human form you cannot lift as much as one of your Strontium grenades. As such, we have given you two Human pistols. Also, you have been given some psychic powers. These include shrouding and battle worthy telekinetic abilities. Just focus, and you will be able to vanish, walk through walls, summon objects…you get the idea. Study your textbooks. Oh, and take out your class schedule. Got it? Good. All right, the first class you have is Xenology. Of course, you already know about that. Next is Physics. Same thing, easy. The next is Music. Now, we have set you up with an instrument called an "electric guitar" in class, and there is one in your room. It is much like the Domius, but with different notes. Practice hard. And your fourth class is Gym. Easy enough. Now, remember, even though you are stronger than the average Human; don't push your abilities too far. You still need to transform every month, during the full moon. Also, look in your backpack. There will be a small injector and several small vials of green liquid. This will help you fight Human diseases. They are called "antibodies". Keep yourself under control. Don't forget to report back to me Euban." Rachael's mouth gaped with astonishment. She suddenly stood up and went over to Euban's door, pulling out her key. She unlocked it and shut the door. When she turned, she was amazed.

Strange objects littered the floor. Metallic blue balls and other pieces of equipment covered the area. A strange device that beeped every so often sat on one wall, and several square items sat around the room. Rachael ignored these and went over to the computer.

PLEASE ENTER PASSWORD

Rachael typed furiously.

ANGELICA

PASSWORD ACCEPTED PRECACHING

Rachael waited with baited breath…and it appeared.

And she took it all in. Tons of info on alien species. Rachael reached down into the cabinet, pulling out file upon file on aliens. Mission briefings, races, contacts, even ship blueprints. There was tons of information. She read about the Aeber, about Euban. About the cities Prisma and New Mecca, and a ship, the _Unyielding Hierophant_. Rachael was just reading about Euban's history when she suddenly heard someone walking down the hall towards the dorm. She shut down the computer and hurriedly stuffed the rest of the papers back in the drawers, before turning and fleeing, grabbing her tape recorder and throwing it in her room just as Euban walked through the door. Rachael shut her room with a bang and Euban's head shot towards her. Rachael was breathing heavily.

"What's up?" Euban asked her. Rachael shook her head.

"Nothing!" She muttered. Euban nodded for a second, then turned and went into his room, shutting the door behind him. Rachael exhaled deeply. That had been too close.

Euban bent over his backpack and took out his antibiotics case, putting a vial of the liquid in the injector and inserting it into his arm. He gasped with pain as the green liquid was inserted into his body. Euban jerked the needle out, setting it down with the three other empty cases of antibiotics. Only five left. It had already been three months? Euban's attention was turned back to the pain in his arm. He gasped, flexing painfully as the antibiotics flowed through his body. Did they hurt Humans this much?

Rachael was paying attention. She was sitting in class, actually listening to Mr. Caulsway for once. She looked around. Euban was slouched in his chair, taking notes on Mr. Caulsway's lecture. No one was looking. Rachael pulled out some notes she had taken from Euban's drawers. About the Aeber. She read carefully. Apparently, the Aeber had found a backwater planet some three thousand or so years ago. They taught the inhabitants how to build, taught them culture, and how to defend themselves. Later, an infectious race appeared and had tried to destroy the Earth. When the final battle came between the two leaders, an Aeber named God and the leader of the infectious race, Lucifer, the battle had nearly split the world apart. The Aeber left, with the infectious race defeated, leaving the Humans to fend for themselves. Apparently, the Aeber had taken interest in Humans again, and the planet Earth. Rachael gasped suddenly as someone grabbed the papers and tore them from her grasp. She looked up and found herself staring at Mr. Caulsway. Mr. Caulsway read the notes for a moment, and then looked at Rachael in surprise. Finally, he muttered,

"See me after class." Rachael gulped and nodded. Mr. Caulsway went back to his desk, setting the papers down and sitting at his desk. Suddenly, he told the class, "Class dismissed. Go stay out of trouble until your next class." Everyone but Rachael got up and left, and Rachael slowly got her stuff together. Was he going to suspend her? She walked up to the front, standing in front of Mr. Caulsway's desk for a moment. Finally, she said,

"Mr. Caulsway, I'm sorry. Please don't suspend me…"

"What do you know about the Aeber?" Mr. Caulsway asked her angrily, standing up. Rachael was taken aback.

"How do you know…" she whispered.

"What do you know about them?" Mr. Caulsway yelled at her. Rachael jumped and gulped. Finally, she gave in.

She told him everything. What she knew about Euban, the Aeber influence on Earth, and their renewed interest in the planet and its inhabitants. She told him how she knew about the Ghaul and Lucifer and God's final confrontation on Earth; how she thought that was where most religion blossomed. When she was done, Mr. Caulsway ran a hand through his hair.

"Jesus." he whispered. Finally, he looked up at her. "You must not follow him tonight. Do you understand? You cannot let him see you in his full form. He will kill you, Rachael." Rachael gulped and nodded. "Go." Mr. Caulsway muttered, sitting down at his desk. Rachael stood there for a moment, then turned and left the room, heading to her next class. After school, she found Euban sitting alone under a tree, reading. She walked over to him, and he looked up as she neared.

"Hey," he called, "What's up?" she walked until she was right in front of him.

"We need to talk." he looked confused, but nodded, following her to her car. They drove to their room, and as soon as they walked into the door Rachael started off. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked him, dropping her bag on the floor. Euban raised an eyebrow.

"Tell you…what?" he asked, confused.

"Don't use that shit with me Euban. I know what you are." Euban still looked confused. "You're an alien!" Rachael yelled, "An Aeber!" Euban looked at her in astonishment. Finally, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright," he muttered, "I'll be straight," he sat on the couch and beckoned Rachael to sit opposite, "My full name is Euban Angelica. I am an Officer in the Aeber Navy, and I was sent here to learn Human behavior and study it because I broke one of the martial Laws that govern our race." Rachael looked at him in astonishment. Finally, she turned and ran into her room, slamming the door shut behind her. Euban sat there, waiting for several hours. Slowly, the room turned dark, and Euban looked out the window. The moon was out. He walked over to Rachael's room and knocked on the door. "Rachael, I'm going out. Be back in an hour."

And he left, walking into the woods.

Chapter Four: Acceptance 

Euban walked for several minutes, making sure no one was following him. He walked and walked until he was in a small clearing in the woods. He stopped, slowly taking off his shirt; his pants were designed to meld into his body during morphing. He looked around once more, to check no one was there, before it began.

As usual, it was slow at first. A slight tingling in his muscles. But soon, he felt his bones and body stretching, morphing, and changing. He was growing bigger, faster, stronger…

He was becoming better.

Euban chuckled as his body finished the final stages of transformation. He shook himself; how good it felt to be normal! He felt so good, so happy! He flexed his body, his muscles rippling gracefully. Euban suddenly heard a snap and whipped around, staring through the trees with his night vision. He saw someone, sitting in the brush, before the person stood. It was Rachael. Euban felt his heart drop. He'd have to kill her, he knew it. He lunged forward, raising his fist to strike…

But he never did. Rachael stared deadlocked into his face. He was so amazing! So powerful! Better than anything she could've imagined!

"You won't kill me.," she muttered softly. Euban stood there for a moment, then lowered his fist. Rachael felt like releasing a sigh of relief but held it as Euban turned away. Rachael walked forward, reaching a hand around his waist since she couldn't possibly reach his shoulders.

"You're not a monster," she whispered. Euban looked at her, then turned as another twig snapped. Rachael felt the hairs go up on the back of her neck. Euban felt it too, an odd presence. He shoved Rachael behind him, looking around. Suddenly he shoved Rachael out of the way as something barreled towards him. Something rammed into him. Rachael paused to watch. It was another alien, as tall as Euban, wearing an odd mask of sorts. Rachael turned and ran, but the creature saw her. It turned and ran after her, claws shooting from its wrists. Euban ran and slid, slide tackling the alien, knocking it to the floor. He roared, grabbing the alien and punching it unmercifully. Finally he picked it up, throwing it through a tree, the ancient wood splintering inwards from the impact.

"Run!" he bellowed, his voice deep like rolling thunder. Rachael turned and ran, ran like she had never done before, back to the dormitory and into her room, slamming the door and locking it. She waited there for several hours, until a knock sounded at the door. Rachael stood up, running to the door and opening it. It was Euban, in his Human form, lying on the ground, his body bloody. Rachael gasped and dragged him inside, resting him on the couch. He was barely conscious, and his moaning awoke Alex.

"Jesus what happened?" she asked, looking at Euban.

"I'll explain later!" Rachael muttered, "Grab me some alcohol and bandages! Quick!" Alex nodded and grabbed them, bringing them over to Rachael. Rachael bathed Euban's wounds and cleaned them, bandaging him up. Suddenly, she felt him grab her hand.

"Adam," he muttered, "Ghaul…" before he passed out again. Rachael stared at him.

"Ghaul?" Alex asked, "What the hell is a Ghaul?" Rachael shook her head.

"Nothing," she gulped, "Go get some sleep." Alex nodded, going back to her room. Rachael stood and covered Euban with a blanket, before unlocking his room. She went inside, sitting at his computer and logging in. She looked at the files on the desktop, before she found it. A large file labeled "Ghaul". She opened it.

And she was horrified. It was the parasitic race, led by Lucifer over three thousand years ago. The race that had been fighting the Aeber for over five thousand years. They were terribly strong in numbers, and each was an equal match for an Aeber soldier. Rachael suddenly saw a smaller file and opened it. A large picture of Adam appeared on the screen, next to the face of an evil looking lizard-like face with a milk-white eye and a scar across it. She read the printing underneath the pictures.

NAME: ADAMIS LUCIFER

CODE NAME: ADAM THOMAS

RACE: GHAUL

HISTORY: CLASSIFIED

Rachael stared in horror. One of her friends was a Ghaul? She could not sleep that night. The thoughts of aliens and war tore through her head, and she wept in her nightmares. Suddenly she awoke to someone shaking her softly.

"Hey," Euban muttered, "Calm down. It was a nightmare." Rachael opened her eyes. It was Euban. She smiled, then sat up.

"I know about the Ghaul! That alien that attacked you just last…" She suddenly heard what she was saying. "How did you get better so fast?" She asked him. He pulled off the bandages, revealing simple scarring.

"Aeber technology. But you learned about the Ghaul?" Rachael nodded.

"And Adam," She muttered, "Adamis Lucifer." Euban's eyes went wide. "What?" Rachael asked him. He shook his head.

"I gave him that scar on his eye. We had fought on Octavus Prime, and my energy blade slashed over his eye," he looked up at her, fear racing over his face, "Why did you get involved?"

"Why do you care whether I get involved or not?" She asked him.

"Because I care about you and don't…" Euban's eyes went wide again and he looked at the floor. Rachael didn't know what to say, before Euban turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

Chapter Five: Resistance 

Euban slammed his room door shut with a bang. Damnit! He let slip!

"Sajak!" he cursed aloud, kicking his desk. He suddenly noticed a light flashing on his screen. He sat down in his chair as words flashed on the screen.

RECEIVING ORDERS RECEIVING ORDERS RECEIVING ORDERS

Euban clicked enter, and words began scrolling over the screen.

MISSION FROM: HIGH COUNCIL

LOCATION: FLAGSHIP _TOWERING RETRIBUTION_

ORDERS: ELIMINATE GHAUL HUNTER ADAMIS LUCIFER

REPORT AFTER ELIMINATION

Euban grimaced. It was time. He stood, flexing his body. For the second time that night he changed, until he was in his full Aeber form. His head almost scraped the ceiling as he walked over to his armour, yanking it from the closet. He backed into it, feeling the armour latch onto his frame. It whirred slightly as he moved, and he reached over, grabbing his weapons and latching them onto his armour. Lastly, he grabbed his beam sword. Euban then began the painful process of shrinking the entirety of his armament and form into his Human body. He moaned painfully as his skin and body reformed, changed. Finally, it was done. Euban fell to the floor with a gasp. His black shirt was ripped and torn, as were his other clothes. They lay in tatters at his feet. Euban grabbed a new pair of pants and pulled out the pistols, pocketing them. He grabbed a locater and stood, pulling open the door. Rachael was standing before him. She looked over him as he stalked towards the far door.

"You can't go after him, Euban. I don't want you to die." She muttered. He paused, then turned. He pulled something from his pocket and handed it to her.

"It is my Medal of Trust. I will be back, Rachael." Rachael nodded, and smiled. Euban closed his eyes, before he vanished in a flash of blue dust.

He reappeared outside the school. "Locater. Find Adamis Lucifer," he muttered. The locater paused for a moment, and Euban looked down. Finally, words came across the screen.

ABOVE.

Euban looked up and dodged just as Adamis hurled himself from the top of the building, landing with a crash on the cement, which buckled under his landing, roaring in anger. He turned and leapt forward, his claws just missing Euban as he nimbly dodged each blow. Adamis was roaring his hatred, pouring all of his strength into killing Euban. Euban finally ducked and rolled away. As he rolled back upright, he drew the two large pistols. Fire roared from the barrels as plasmafied bullets slammed into Adamis' armour, sparks flying. Adamis jumped forward, his claws raised to strike. Euban simply ducked and rolled again, sliding between Adamis' legs with ease. Adamis wasn't fast enough, and Euban fired. The rounds tore into Adamis' bare back, easily splintering through his skin. Euban stood up and ran towards Adamis, side kicking him hard in the face. Adamis roared and lashed out, the flat edge of his claws slapping Euban's head. Euban stumbled and tripped, his vision blurring. He rolled over, dazed. He saw Adamis walking towards him, a Lance pistol held in his hand.

"I thought you were so powerful," The Ghaul growled, "But really you're just as weak as a Human." Euban shook his head, staring up at the Ghaul.

"If you kill me, it will not solve anything, Lucifer. You will not stop us." Lucifer sneered, pulling the hammer back on the pistol. Euban stood as the Ghaul tracked him with the pistol. Adamis fired…but the beam never made contact. Euban looked down. Rachael was lying on the cement, a hole punched in her right shoulder. Euban looked from Rachael to Adamis, anger flowing through his body. He roared and charged Lucifer, slamming into him and knocking him to the ground. Lucifer jumped back and raised the pistol, but Euban was faster. With a yell he kicked the weapon from Adamis' hand, pulling out a pistol. The bullet hit Adamis in the right shoulder, sending him reeling as the splinter bullet shattered inside his body. Adamis cursed and ran, charging from the clearing. Euban turned and ran over to Rachael, turning her over in his arms. He suddenly heard footsteps and raised the pistol. It was Alex. She looked from Euban to Rachael, then back to Euban. Euban shook his head. "It wasn't me Alex. It was my enemy." Alex was too horrified. Finally, she whispered,

"What did you do?" Euban stood, carrying Rachael in his arms. Tears were flowing down his cheeks, and Alex realized this was the first real emotion Euban had shown.

"We have to take her to the hospital," he murmured, "now!" Alex nodded and ran to the car, starting it up and driving over to Euban, who set Rachael gingerly in the back seat. Her face was going red as the radioactive energies from the Lance beam cooked her from the inside out, and her skin burned to the touch. Euban lifted her head to his chest and sobbed over her, his tears dripping into her hair. Why her? Why now? His thoughts vanished as they reached the hospital, and Euban ran to the emergency room, kicking the doors open.

"Doctor!" he roared, the nurses and patients in the waiting room staring at him, "I need a Doctor!" a nurse approached him, looking at the girl Euban held in his arms.

"What happened to her?" she asked him.

"She was shot," he muttered, panicking, "By a Lance beam." The nurse looked at him in confusion.

"Excuse me?" she asked him. He swallowed. So stupid; how could they know what a Lance beam was?

"It is a radioactive beam that causes heat temperature rising and fries anything within close proximity of its impact. It is technology…not of this world." The nurse shook her head.

"Sir, if this is some kind of joke…"

"This is no joke!" Euban yelled, "This girl is dying and needs help. She was shot in the right shoulder, which probably means her top two ribs are fused together, and the radiation is spreading through her body. We need liquid nitrogen to reverse the effect. I know this sounds crazy, but…you must trust me, her system will be able to handle it, please…" his voice trailed off as he stared at Rachael. He switched to Soulsight and saw that her once strong, healthy aura was growing dim. As he switched back to regular vision, he noticed her skin was beginning to blister slightly. The nurse looked at him for a long while, then said,

"How much liquid nitrogen?" Euban looked up.

"Not much, maybe half a pint." The nurse nodded, and two other nurses rolled a push-bed into the room, and Euban set Rachael onto it. As they wheeled her out, Alex came in through the side door. She looked around then ran to Euban as he stared after Rachael.

"Will she be okay?" Alex asked, hugging him. He looked into her eyes, and then hugged her tightly, and she burst into tears. Euban held her close for quite some time, before pulling away.

"Stay here," he muttered, "I have my own job to finish." Alex nodded, and Euban left the hospital. When he got outside, he put his hands to his forehead, sending his senses pulsing out wide. He was here, and he was close.

"Euban calmly walked through the parking lot, slowly pulling the two pistols from his pockets. He saw something dart behind the small patch of trees outside the hospital and turned…

He ducked just as a Lance beam blasted past him, slamming into a car behind him and molding the metal into a dark blob. Euban felt his skin burn from the radiation and raised his pistols, firing a stream of bullets into the patch of trees. He saw sparks and felt something impact, before he jumped behind the row of cars and holstered the pistols.

It was time.

Euban felt his body change and grow again, his muscles reforming and rebinding. From somewhere additional mass and bulk was added. Pain and agitation raced through his body, which itched and screamed as he transformed. Soon, he was crouching behind the row of cars in his full Aeber form, and he pulled the beam sword from its place on his armour. Again, he sent his senses wide, and detected Lucifer not ten feet from behind him. The blade of the sword shot out, a bright blueish white, before Euban flipped backwards over the cars, twisting in midair. He slammed into his unsuspecting opponent with a loud crunch and lashed out, feeling the sword bite into flesh. Black ichor sprayed from the wound, and Adamis used Euban's forward momentum to hurl him backwards. Euban twisted upright and skidded on the pavement, leaving two deep scores in the concrete. Adamis rose and grasped his arm, cursing. As Euban watched, sickly green snake-like fibers twisted and coiled around the wound, instantly covering it and protecting it as it healed. Adamis turned towards Euban, and a long, red blade like Euban's appeared, throwing red light across Adamis' face in the dark. Euban had one look at Adamis' sneering face and milk-white eye, before he charged forward, his blade cutting a swathe through the air. Euban raised his own blade and parried the attack, feeling the hot sparks showering from the two plasma blades as they connected. He twisted and slashed sideways, narrowly missing Lucifer as he did so. Lucifer turned and thrust forward with his blade, and Euban knocked the blow aside. Adamis lashed out with his foot, kicking Euban in the face. Euban cursed and stumbled backwards, massaging his forehead. He looked up. Adamis was gone. Euban looked around, his vision pulsing and bringing up nothing but the cars and the trees. Where was the Ghaul bastard now? Euban heard a grunt and saw a blade slashing towards his head. He brought his sword up; blocking the attack, hot sparks showering over him. The blow sent him reeling, and Euban threw out his arms to prevent himself from falling. Adamis seized his chance and slashed forwards, cutting a swathe through Euban's armour and into his flesh. Euban cursed and stumbled backwards, feeling the wound burn and sizzle with pain from the heat. He looked at the wound and gasped. Small, sickly green snakes of flesh and muscle were slowly covering the wound, just as Lucifer's had done not five minutes beforehand. Euban looked up at Lucifer, who was staring at Euban in fascinated horror. Adamis had no time to react for his flaw. Euban leapt forward and plunged his beam sword into Adamis' chest, and Adamis gasped and fell backwards onto the pavement. Euban raised the sword again, but there was no point. Adamis would be dead soon. Adamis choked and gurgled, black blood leaking from his mouth and the gaping wound in his chest.

"You will never be rid of us…Aeber scum!" the Ghaul gasped. He chuckled slightly as Euban lowered his weapon, blood bubbling from his mouth and onto the ground. He reached for one of his wrist consoles and pushed a button, typing a series of commands. Euban had no time to stop him. Instantly a beam of bright blue light flashed from the console and into the sky, blinding Euban and making him stumble backwards. A distress signal! Euban waved his arms blindly and rubbed at his head, feeling pain roil through his skull. Slowly, it dissipated, and Euban looked at the ground. Adamis' corpse was blackened and burnt from the beam of light, his skin melted away to reveal his muscles and organs. Euban turned his beam sword back on and turned it to maximum power, running it over Lucifer's body. The heat from the plasma instantly melted his body away, so that no evidence of his existence remained save a black scorch on the ground. Euban then turned the sword off and reattached it to his belt, slowly transforming back into his Human self. He fell to his knees and stared at his chest. The green healing tissue still remained. How could that have happened? Suddenly the full horror of his situation dawned on him, and he looked around. Good. No one was watching. He closed his eyes, and his body instantly returned to his room. He turned on his computer, taking the last vial of medicine and putting it on the scanner.

"Scan for Ghaul DNA strands," Euban told the computer. He waited as it processed information, which then rolled on the screen. He couldn't believe it! The medicine was almost completely made up of Ghaul DNA! Euban sat back in his chair and stared at the screen in horror. What sort of abomination was he? He looked from the computer screen to the gash on his chest, where the green fibers had covered his wound. It was impossible; scientists had tried many times to genetically combine Ghaul and Aeber DNA, and it never worked. Even at the cellular level, their cells fought to the death. Suddenly, a message scrolled across his screen.

INCOMING MESSAGE INCOMING MESSAGE

Euban gulped and wiped an arm over his forehead; he felt like he was going to be sick. He typed in his password again, and Prof. Archimedes face appeared on the screen.

"Euban," he muttered, his face twisted into a look of fear, "We have a problem."

Chapter Six: Complication 

Euban looked up.

"What kind of problem?" he asked coolly. Archimedes swallowed.

"Euban have you know of the Astronomican, correct?" Euban cocked his head.

"Yes, why?" he asked.

"Well, according to our records, at this current time the Tracers have pointed us to something we did not expect…the Beacon…it is inside Rachael." Euban stared at Archimedes in shock.

"What?" he leaned forward in his chair, all thoughts of himself gone, "How is that possible?"

" It is a certain pattern of genomes in her DNA code. Certain parts of her are, shall we say…different. It is Aeber."

"But that is impossible!" Euban whispered. Suddenly he looked up, "Speaking of DNA, why am I being injected with Ghaul genomes? What kind of monster are you trying to create?" Archimedes gaped at him.

"How did you…"

"I ran a simple test, Archimedes. The vials are almost completely filled with Ghaul DNA." Archimedes nodded and looked at the floor.

"Guess we didn't cover it up as well as we had thought," he whispered. Euban looked at him angrily, before Archimedes continued, " Yes, we are injecting you with Ghaul DNA. You must understand Euban, for centuries we have tried combining Ghaul and Aeber DNA, and for centuries we have failed. It gained a reputation for failing miserably, and so forth we did not explain our plans to you."

"What makes me so different?" Euban demanded.

"Not you," Archimedes answered quickly, "The atmosphere. You see, the Earth's atmospheric pressure, radiation levels, and sunlight intake are perfect for gestating a Ghaul-Aeber hybrid. If you take that last bit of medicine, you will become a perfect combination of Ghaul and Aeber. Do you understand, Euban? You must finish the process."

"Why?" Euban snapped.

"Because unless the process is fully 100 complete, the Ghaul genomes will kill you." Archimedes said simply. Euban gulped, then slowly nodded. "Good," Archimedes muttered, "Now, your new mission. You are being promoted, Euban, to Protector of the Beacon," Euban's heart jumped. The Protector of the Beacon was the highest honor an Aeber could hold, "You must protect the Beacon of the Astronomican at all costs. We are sending in a strike team to pick you and the beacon up tonight. Also, complete taking all of the vials. Understood?" Euban nodded.

"Yes, sir." He murmured. Archimedes nodded, and then the screen went blank. Euban ran a hand through his hair; he seemed to be getting used to doing this. Finally, he put on his coat and teleported to the dark hospital parking lot. He coolly walked through the doors and went to the lobby. Alex was sitting in a chair and stood as Euban came inside. "Is she okay?" Euban whispered. She nodded, hugging him tightly. Euban gave a gasp of pain as his chest wound burned, and Alex drew back.

"What's wrong?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Nothing." Alex looked into his eyes, and then slowly unzipped the jacket, revealing the top of his bare chest. The wound covered by the alien filaments peeked out at her, dried blood cracking on his skin. Alex looked up at Euban who quickly zipped the jacket back up. "It is done, Adamis is dead. We need to get Rachael out of here." Alex nodded and then peered over Euban's shoulder. Euban turned to see a doctor walking towards them.

"Are you Euban Angelica?" He asked Euban, who nodded. "I am Doctor Carter, overseeing Rachael. She'll be fine. She sustained minimum damage from the weapon, a, uh…Lance pistol?" he muttered, checking his papers. Euban nodded. "She'll have to spend the night here." Doctor Carter finished. Euban shook his head.

"She can't," he muttered, "She can't stay here tonight. I have to get her outta here." He began to step past the doctor, who held out his arm.

"She cannot leave here," he muttered, "she has to stay." Euban shook his head.

"You don't understand," he said, "In a few hours this whole planet could be a smoldering rock if she isn't kept safe. Someone…something is coming to kill both me and her and unless I get her to a safe place, she will be killed, and your planet destroyed." Carter raised an eyebrow at him, then whispered,

"Alfont Ghaul sonk tye?" Euban looked at him in amazement. A Human who spoke Aeber?

"Ji, sorto carreles vujoh." The doctor nodded, and led Euban and Alex down a long hallway, where they took a left. Tears began to fill Euban's eyes as he saw the damage that had been wrought upon Rachael. A great hole was punched in her shoulder, the edges of the area bright red and blistering. Euban walked over to the bed and knelt beside her, then looked towards the doctor. "I can heal her," he muttered. The doctor nodded, and Euban closed his eyes, whispering in a language only he knew. He ran a hand over the injury, and a blue light began to glow from within his chest. Alex gasped and clung to the doctor as the lights suddenly flickered and died. The light was now extending up Euban's arm and hand, and a beam of light shot from his palm and into the wound. Alex stared in wonder as the wound slowly closed; the skin healed, the blisters vanished, until Rachael was once again as normal as ever. As the lights returned and the blue light vanished, she stirred. Euban ran a hand through her hair and grasped hers as her eyes fluttered open.

"Why do we spend so much goddamn time in hospitals?" she muttered to him. He smiled, hugging her tightly to him. Suddenly, a beeping filled the room. Euban realized it was his pal pilot and pulled it out, tapping the "enter" key. Two words flashed across the screen and made Euban's Human heart sink.

INCOMING PODS INCOMING PODS INCOMING PODS

He pocketed the palm pilot and pulled the sheets off of Rachael. "Get your clothes on Rachael. They are coming. We must leave, now, and hide!" He turned to Alex,

"Go back to my apartment and grab my laptop, please. We'll meet you in the Campus Square, okay?" Alex nodded, running out of the hospital doors. Rachael had gotten on her clothes and followed Euban through the hospital and out the side door. They burst out into the warm night air, and Euban grabbed Rachael's hand. "This is gonna feel weird, okay?" Rachael nodded, then hugged Euban hard. He stood there in shock for a moment, before putting his own arms around her. Then, he initiated the teleporter. Rachael screamed silently as time and space raced by. Where were they? All she could see were the motes of light shooting past them. Suddenly, it stopped, and Rachael nearly fell as they reappeared on solid ground.

"Whoa!" she muttered, smiling. Euban smiled too, and Rachael looked around. They were on campus. "How did you do that?" she asked Euban. He grinned.

"Quantum physics, Rachel." she grinned, then stared into Euban's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Euban." he nodded, kissing her on the lips.

"It's okay. Now, listen to me," he looked Rachael right in the eyes, "we are going to be hiding for a while until a striker unit from my fleet can pick us up, alright? There will be a lot of fighting, and I just want you to follow me, stay down, and do as I tell you. We can both get out alive then." Rachael nodded, and Euban hugged her tightly. They waited for several more minutes until Alex showed up, and Euban grabbed the laptop. He pulled out the two pistols, handing one each to Rachael and Alex. "If you run into trouble, just pint and shoot, okay?" They nodded, and Euban gave them a thumb up. "Okay, let's go." And he ran, and they followed him. He opened the laptop and brought up the campus map. The trio appeared as a group of red dots, and Euban looked up, running into the woods. The two girls followed him, and the three ran through the brush towards the pods crash sight. Within a few minutes they were at the crash sight, and they all stopped to take a breather. Euban turned and looked at the damaged hulk, and Rachael's eyes followed him.

"Jesus!" she whispered, "What is that?" Euban grinned, walking up to the smooth Wraithbone surface and caressing it.

"This was my drop pod. It was much more beautiful before I crashed. Look; you can see the runes of warding and protection. And see here, this is the protective Wraithbone armour," Euban pointed towards the ground where the nose of the craft was splintered and broken, "It is very strong, but it shatters when it breaks. But notice the craftsmanship, the detail. Equipment and ships that are supposed to have a longer use are even more decorated." Rachael nodded.

"Your race must be very proficient." Euban nodded.

"We were. Our works were beautiful. Every space station was a piece of art, every suit of armour. Then the Ghaul came, led by an Aeber Commander named Lucifer. The still-loyal Aeber commander, Viktor God, was very strategic in his victories; he was a great warrior. I am his great grandson. Anyways, centuries ago, according to the files I researched, God and Lucifer ended up bringing the war to a backwater planet in an uncharted sector," Euban bent down and picked up a handful of dirt, running it through his fingers, "This planet. That is where the Christian religion was born; Humans witnessing the battle between Lucifer and God…

"God's army and Lucifer's mixed army of Ghaul and Dark Aeber clashed on the lava fields of Pentain; features present on this planet long forgotten. At the end only Lucifer and God were left, and the barrage from the Aeber ships above began to make the surface of the planet crack and heave; great spouts of lava spewed from the weakened Earth. Driven by insanity Lucifer sent out a psychic scream that mortally wounded God. When Lucifer saw what he had done, looked around and saw the carnage and death that he had created, he dropped his weapon and slumped down next to Lucifer. Lucifer's tears mingled with God's blood and burnt in the lava flowing around them on all sides. As Lucifer realized the full extent of what he had done, he released a great howl of painful rage, and white light flooded from him and covered the surface of the entire planet, blinding even the ships kilometers above the planet in space. When the ships view screens returned to normal, all that was left was another Earth, completely untouched by war. So forth, the Aeber took God's Ten Commandments and set them down on Earth, never returning until now." Euban finished his tale and sighed, running his hand over the cross on his pod.

"And why did you come back?" Alex asked timidly. Euban looked at her.

"There is an alternate realm known as the Astronomican. The Aeber have been using it for centuries to heal and repair injuries both to individuals and populations, and also as a weapon. There are Beacons to the Astronomican, and if the Ghaul ever find one, they will know how to defeat us. Destroy the Astronomican."

"And where is this last Beacon? The one you were sent to protect?" Rachael asked him. Euban looked her in the eye, putting a hand to her chest.

"Right here." Rachael looked at him in surprise, and Euban turned back to his pod, "You have strands of Aeber DNA inside you. I don't know how, but you have it. Its peculiar mix with Human DNA has resulted in the creation of one last Beacon, one I must protect," he turned back towards Rachael, tears forming in his eyes, "I am sorry you had to be dragged into this, but tomorrow night you will be taken from this planet and held within the High Council's Chamber of Treasures forever. You will have to leave everything behind. I am sorry Rachael." Rachael didn't say anything, just stared. Finally, she stepped forward and hugged Euban, who chuckled through his tears.

"Will I be with you?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Forever," he whispered. Rachael smiled and stared past him into the sky…and gasped.

"Euban!" she pointed behind him, and Euban turned. Several fireballs were soaring through the sky towards them, and Euban began yelling.

"Get in the pod! Hurry!" he pushed Rachael and Alex inside the pod, ripping off his jacket and transforming into his Aeber form. Euban suddenly remembered something; the last vial! He turned towards the sky where the fireballs were roaring towards them, and ran back to the pod. "Stay here! I must go! I will be back!" he said over the roaring of the pods flying towards them. Rachael and Alex nodded, and Euban closed the door to the pod. Then, he ran, tearing through the trees and bushes, sprinting up the stairs and running into his room. He grabbed the last vial and the injector and inserted the vial into it, before stabbing the needle into his leg. He felt the vile stuff pumping through him, then pain reared through his body. He felt growths sprouting from his back and looked in the mirror. Six long spikes were jutting out of his back, flanking his spine. He roared in pain as his muscles grew, additional mass being procured from nowhere. His vision was changing, bright yellow, with certain objects being picked out in red! When it finally all stopped, Euban was gasping and panting on the floor. He looked in the mirror. He had eyes! Bright yellow with black slits for pupils! And he had spikes in his back, and others growing from his arms. Euban suddenly heard a great boom and looked out the window. The first pods were arriving, outlined with black, slamming into the ground, on campus, or colliding violently with trees. Euban jumped and smashed through the glass and window, landing in a crouch. The cement buckled and exploded around him as he landed with awesome force, running towards the nearest pod just as it opened. Euban slashed at the creature's throat with one of his wrists blades, black blood spurting from the wound. The Ghaul warrior gurgled and fell forward, dead, its once bright lively aura gone. Euban drew his other wrist blade and ran, sprinting through the trees back towards the pod. He ran and opened the side door, letting Alex and Rachael see him fully.

"Hey," Alex muttered, squinting, "You have eyes." Euban nodded,

"Evolution at its best," he gasped, "move." Rachael and Alex obeyed, and Euban activated the sentry plasma turrets located inside the pods armour. He heard the hatches fall and the small steady _beepbeepbeep_'s of the guns as they tracked for targets, and Euban drew his plasma rifle. "Stay back," he muttered, before raising the rifle's scope to his eye and turning. He switched to infrared and saw several targets coming at them, a hundred meters and closing. Euban suddenly heard several _chewpewchewpewchewpew_ sounds as the sentry turrets opened fire, lances of white and red light shooting across his heat vision. He found the closest target, aimed for the Ghaul warrior's ammunition pack, and fired. Time seemed to slow as the plasma bolt flew towards its target…

…and impacted, throwing everything into chaos. Small dots of white light raced over Euban's shoulders from Rachael and Alex's pistols as they fired on the closest target, and Ghaul arms fire raced past Euban and bounced off his armour. Sparks flew as the shells pinged off of Euban's pod; Ghaul used bolter technology, their average weapon firing a three inch shell at the enemy with extreme inaccuracy. Euban suddenly heard several loud _chakchakchak, chakchakchakchak_ sounds and turned. A Ghaul warrior was facing him, holding a large heavy bolter in his hands, the weapon spitting fire at him. Euban ducked and felt a shell ricochet off his neck guard, and he raised his rifle, firing a three shot burst at the Ghaul warrior. The shots hit, one impacting the chest, the other the neck, and the last the large ammunition belt coming from the weapon. The belt exploded, throwing Ghaul blood and bone everywhere as well as the large bullets. The shells flew in every direction and took several Ghaul soldiers who were near the operator down, lifting a few off their feet as the awesome shells hit them. Euban shouldered his rifle as the Ghaul drew near and flicked out his wrist blades, before charging forwards with a bellowing roar. He became a whirlwind of death as he slammed into the soldiers, blood and bullets flying as the panicked warriors fought their own daemons in the confusion. Euban felt something hit his armour and stumbled. He turned and saw a frightened Ghaul grunt staring at him, frozen. Euban leapt forward and brought his wrist blade crashing into the soldier's throat. The deformed creature was lifted off its feet and thrown backwards by the blow, and Euban looked around, listening over the din of battle. A great roaring was coming, getting closer…

…Euban suddenly felt a blue beam surround him from the sky, before he vanished in a flash of light.

Rachael saw Euban vanish as the blue beam engulfed him. She screamed, and suddenly the Ghaul soldiers turned. She clasped a hand over her mouth and pushed herself and Alex back into the pod, back into the dark. The Ghaul soldiers were looking straight in her direction, but didn't seem to see her yet. Rachael raised her pistol in a shaky hand, just before a clawed fist wrenched it from her grasp.

Rachael screamed as an ugly, white, lizard-like face appeared before her, snarling menacingly…

**Chapter Seven: War**

Euban let out a roar of rage that made the technicians' in the room shake and jitter with fright. Four Aeber warriors clad in purple armour appeared; higher ranking officers.

"Calm down Captain Angelica," one of them muttered, "we know you are battle hungry…"

"I must go back down there!" Euban bellowed, running to the technicians' station.

"Control yourself elite! We are returning to New Mecca, with your research!"

"No," Euban roared, "I must get back down there! Rachael…" Euban suddenly felt something prod him, and turned. One of the technicians had injected him with a sedative, and it recoiled in fear as Euban turned towards it. Euban felt himself go woozy. He must get back down to Earth! "I must…go back…" he whispered, before darkness took him.

Rachael's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up slowly. She looked around; where was she? She stood and turned and felt something bump into her. She screamed and fell back, looking up. Alex's corpse was hanging above her from a chain, her body cut open, revealing her body cavity and her organs. Rachael gasped and put a hand over her mouth, crying in horror. She suddenly heard footsteps and turned. The rusty gate imprisoning her opened and one of the lizard-like Ghaul entered. Rachael's fear was replaced by blinding rage and she stood, running forwards and hitting the first Ghaul's chest.

"You bastard!" she yelled, pounding him unmercifully, "You stupid fucking bastard!" The Ghaul grabbed her hands and threw her to the floor.

"Quiet infidel! The only reason you are alive is because you bear the Astronomican Beacon! Where is it!" Rachael was sobbing uncontrollably, tears mingling with the blood on the floor.

"I don't know, I don't know…" she sobbed. The Ghaul growled in anger and grabbed Rachael's shoulders, lifting her bodily from the floor.

"Lies!" he bellowed into her face, his fowl breath washing over her, "I know you know where it is! Tell me!" Rachael just cried, and the Ghaul threw her back to the floor, turning and leaving the cell. Rachael simply curled up in a corner and cried, rocking back and forth, staring at the blood on the floor.

Euban awoke with a start. He was lying in a medibed, a large shadow dwarfing him. He looked over and saw an engineer facing him. The robot was attuned specifically to his needs, although it seemed to be having a problem coping with his Ghaul DNA. Euban looked to his desk and saw a small hand-held pict unit, and picked it up. He switched it on, and the live cameras in the Council's Audience chambers appeared. Euban gave a gasp and sat up in bed.

Archimedes was on trial.

Euban threw his arms over the bed and yanked the needles from his arm. The medical robot beeped in protest as Euban rose from his bed, rubbing his muscles. He turned and slipped into his armour, before running to one of the teleportation devices in the wall.

"High Council Audience Chamber." He muttered. He felt the familiar tug before he found himself standing outside the great hall. The two Scheballs' guarding the doors grunted and lowered their force-halberds at his approach, and Euban concentrated. Slowly, the force-halberds began to buckle, turning backwards. Sparks of electricity flared as the weapons broke and turned on their masters, electrocuting them and knocking them out. Euban kicked the double doors open and ran, the Aeber witnesses lining the walls of the chamber gasping and chatting with surprise. Euban ran until he was next to Archimedes, who turned.

"Euban," he growled, 'you should be in bed!"

"I do not have the Beacon!" Euban yelled. The Prophet's looked over at him.

"WHAT?" bellowed Belligerence, looking Euban's changed form up and down.

"Where is it?" asked Patience agitatedly, who really didn't seem that entirely patient at the moment. Euban turned to Archimedes,

"Where is Rachael?" he asked him. Archimedes looked at the floor, then at Euban. Euban realized what had happened. "Oh no." he muttered, and Archimedes nodded.

"The raiding party captured her."

"Where do they have her?" Euban asked him.

"Octavus Prime." Archimedes muttered. Euban nodded, then turned to the Prophets.

"Great Prophets', the Beacon is in Ghaul hands," The hall erupted into screams and bellows of rage at this, and many of the Prophets' cursed to themselves, "This is because," Euban bellowed over the noise, "The strike team you sent in to pick me up thought that I had the Beacon in my possession. It is not in me the Beacon gestates, but inside the Human girl named Rachael Robert. Prophets', as your only successful experimental hybrid of Ghaul and Aeber DNA, and as the Protector of the Beacon, I ask you to go to War with the Ghaul. I ask you to strike them at Octavus Prime." The Prophets' sat in silence for a moment, and Euban could feel a psychic argument raging between them. This argument went on for several minutes, before finally, Wisdom turned back to Euban.

"What is your strategy, Angelica?" Euban smiled broadly, then began to outline his plan.

Chapter Eight: Rescue 

Rachael looked up as the door to her cell creaked open. The Ghaul torturer walked in and sneered.

"Time to go, infidel." Rachael stood up shakily; days with only a little food and water had taken their toll on her body. The Ghaul soldier hauled her roughly to a large elevator, shoving her into it and following her in. He pushed a pad, and the elevator dropped, lifting Rachael slightly off the floor. When they arrived the Ghaul soldier pushed her, and she fell to the ground. "The elevator always has been a little bumpy," the soldier chuckled to himself. He dragged Rachael over to a large ship and pushed her in. The door shut behind them, and Rachael felt the creature push her into the seat next to him. The ship took off with a great whoosh, the gravitational forces pushing Rachael into her seat. They flew for several minutes, until Rachael heard the pilot yell,

"Prepare to break atmosphere!" Rachael braced herself just in time. The ship shook violently, sound roaring around them. The ship grew hot as it broke the atmosphere, fire flowing over its hull. After several seconds, it stopped, and Rachael felt the ship elevate out. She looked out the window and saw a large jungle world, with large pillars and statues carved in the shape of the Ghaul. Rachael felt the ship slow and come to a stop, before she was pushed out into the blinding sunlight…

Euban stared out the window of his warship as stars flew past. They were en route to Octavus Prime, and Euban was nervous. He heard the computer beep quietly, and a small blue disk popped out, and Euban pulled it from the drive before shutting the computer down. He stared at the disk in his hand, and knew that if he had tear ducts he'd be crying. This was his last resort, his last command if he...well. It would ensure his continued passage into the Astronomican, with Rachael. Forever. Euban sighed and stood, rubbing his forehead, before collapsing back in his chair again. He had never felt this worried.

Or scared.

All his life he had been trained for this. But something felt different this time, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Was it the mission? The scale of the battle? The fact that he was now Supreme Commander? Euban didn't know what it was. He could only think of Rachael and the battle plan. A small part of the Aeber fleet was going to attack, and then flee; hopefully making the Ghaul fleet pursue them and spread out. The rest of the ships were then going to sneak in behind them by ways of Slipspace, catching the Ghaul fleet in a hammer and anvil attack. Euban and the rest of the Aeber strike team were going to infiltrate behind enemy lines via Dropship and grab Rachael, and bring her back to the flagship. Euban looked down at the new armour he was wearing; midnight blue with gold trimming. He was now Supreme Commander of the Aeber fleets. Archimedes had managed to convince the High Council that Euban was better now than any other commander, since he instinctively knew how the Ghaul would respond to threats.

All because of his hybridization.

Euban suddenly heard a ring at his door and turned.

"Enter." He muttered to his door. Archimedes walked in, his four metal legs just barely showing from under a long, dark green coat.

"Commander Angelica." Archimedes bowed deeply, seeing Euban's new armour; dark blue with gold trimming, indicating a Supreme Commanding officer. Euban smiled and stood.

"My friend, please treat me as an equal. Would you like something to drink?" Archimedes nodded.

"A brandy if you please." Euban nodded, walking over to a slide cabinet and grabbing a bottle of the liquor, pouring two small glasses full. He walked back over to the table and handed a glass to Archimedes, who thanked him and took a sip, "Ah," he muttered, setting the glass down, "That's better." The two sat in silence for a while, then Archimedes turned to Euban, "I am impressed by what you did back there, and I wanted to apologize for your mutations." Euban looked at his body.

"Oh, by all means old man, I appreciate them all the same." Archimedes grinned.

"I knew you would, although I wouldn't like being lied to either. I apologize for that." Euban stepped forwards and held out his hand,

"Apology accepted, my friend." Archimedes grinned and shook Euban's hand vigorously. Euban suddenly had a thought and picked the small disk up from his desk. "Archimedes," he muttered, "if I die…please use this program, if we get Rachael. You'll know what it is for, once you see it." Archimedes took the crystal disk, staring at Euban, before he nodded, taking the disk and pocketing it in a compartment of one of his robotic legs. Suddenly a message blared over the intercom, making Euban's hearts' skip.

"OPERATION _SPEARHEAD_ TO COMMENCE IN FIVE MINUTES! REPORT TO BATTLE STATIONS!"

Two minutes later Euban was standing on the bridge of the _Ascendant Justice_, looking over the controls on his suite.

"Charge God Cannons and Plasma batteries, prepare torpedo rooms and ready all weapons!"

"Aye, sir." Called the Acolyte from his station, and he turned and began typing commands. Euban turned to his Targeting Officer.

"How many Ghaul ships in total?" he asked him.

"Forty-seven thousand, Commander." the Aeber replied.

"Sir, one of the Servitors called, "a message from High Council, sir."

"On screen." Euban called, pointing at the screen. Wisdom's face appeared, his face a mask of calm.

"Euban Angelica, I hope you know what you are doing," he muttered. Euban nodded,

"I will retrieve the Beacon, my Lord. Trust me," Wisdom nodded, and his face vanished from the screen, the space around the planet once again flooding the view screens. "Commanders on screen," Euban told his Acolyte. The Aeber nodded, and the faces of the other thirty Commanders appeared on screen.

"Supreme Commander," one of them asked, "what is your wish?"

"Wait for my order to fire your weapons. Angelica out." Euban turned back to his suite, but the Commanders didn't leave the screen. He looked up, "Is there a problem Commanders?" he asked. One of them raised a fist in the air,

"Aeber soldiers," he bellowed, "what kind of day is it!" Euban grinned as over a hundred thousand voices roared in reply,

"IT IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE!" Euban raised his own fist high in the air, yelling with the rest of his army,

"It is a good day to die!" once more, before the Commanders flashed off screen. Euban's mind returned to the battle.

"Fore camera!" he bellowed, and the view appeared on the screen. The large, rotating orb that was Octavus Prime spun slowly in front of them, small dots marking the Ghaul warships on screen, thousands of them, dwarfed by the huge jungle world below them. Euban stared at the orb, and the enemy before him, waiting, "Find targets and wait for my order to fire!" The Ghaul ships were drawing closer, the numbers on the screen flashing as the ships drew nearer. At 3,000 meters, the Ghaul began to charge their weapons; red fire burned along their lateral lines.

"Enemy weapons at 87 sir!" cried a Servitor, and Euban threw his arm forward.

"FIRE!" He roared. There was a split second of silence, before the space around the planet erupted in flames.

**Chapter Nine: Assault**

Euban stared unblinkingly at the screen as over seventy God Cannons fired, the blue beams criss-crossing over space and impacting. Blossoms of fire appeared in space as the Ghaul ships exploded. "Fire all Plasma batteries!" Euban bellowed. He felt the ship glow red hot, before hundreds of blue teardrops of plasma were unleashed into space. They rolled over shields and burnt through armour. The Ghaul ships that had been destroyed erupted in violent explosions as their built-up plasma was released inside their shields, and several ships collided and slammed into each other. The surviving ships fired, and Euban bellowed, "Brace for impact!". Red-hot lances of plasma lanced over the ships, breaking through shields and gutting several from stem to stern, "Retreat," Euban bellowed, "Retreat! Operation _Zenith_ is now in progress!" Euban felt the ship decelerate and then slowly start to move backwards. Euban watched with baited breath, waiting, "Come on…" he whispered. The Ghaul followed. Euban let out a great sigh of relief and watched the Ghaul ships draw nearer and disperse, chasing the now fleeing Aeber vessels. When he was satisfied that they were stretched thin enough, he bellowed, "Attack! Hidden craft, engage the Ghaul! The rest, pick your targets and fire at will! Landing party, meet me in Docking Bay Three!" Euban watched as thousands more Aeber ships appeared in space, instantly filling space with a thousand times a thousand beams of light as they fired upon the Ghaul. Euban turned to his second-in-command, "Take over. I am commencing Rescue Operation Primus now!" with that, Euban ran out into the hall, turning towards one of the screens. "Docking Bay Three!" he yelled over the battle sirens. An instant later he was standing in the third Docking Bay of the _Ascendant Justice_. He looked around, spotting a large knot of Aeber warriors standing next to a Dropship, a huge behemoth of Wraithbone and firepower. Euban ran towards them, grabbing his weapons and strapping them into his armour.

"Inside," one of the warriors yelled to his comrades, "Move!" Euban followed the others inside. He strapped himself in to the side seats, and the door to the Dropship slowly closed. A red light filled the cabin, and Euban felt the attachment hooks holding the Dropship release it. Euban felt the sudden acceleration as the Dropship plummeted out of the launch bay and into space. Through the observation port screens Euban could see thousands upon thousands of beams of light streaking across space, debris and the wrecked ghosts of ships floating everywhere. Euban suddenly felt a great jolt, and the speaker in his headset crackled with static.

"Elites, we are going to hit some turbulence, so hang on!" Euban cocked his head. Turbulence? In space? Euban suddenly felt the ship shudder and saw three Ghaul Archangel fighters flying behind them.

"That," he bellowed in the general direction of the pilot, "is NOT TURBULENCE!" Euban heard the familiar _chewpechewpechew_ as the Dropship's ventral and dorsal plasma cannons opened fire, blue lances shooting across space and impacting the enemy ships, which struggled to maintain control under the barrage. However, the ships couldn't hold out for long. Euban saw yellow lightning crackle around one as its shields failed, and the plasma bolts washed across it, exposing the pilot and sending him hurtling into space. Another was shot in the wing and collided with the other ship, sending both tumbling into each other. They exploded with an awesome burst of fire, and Euban exhaled with relief as the two hulks wheeled off away from them.

"Brace for atmospheric breakage!" yelled the pilot. Euban pushed against his harness, and a second later the ship began to shake violently. Fire flickered off of the Dropship's shields as it roared through the atmosphere, the screaming of wind racing over it audible even from the inside. Soon, however, the fire dissipated, and Euban saw the brake flaps flip up, and the Dropship jumped, gradually slowing. Euban felt a great surge of fear as the break thrusters coughed and spluttered, and finally fired, slowing the massive ship's descent as it hurled towards its destination. Euban could see trees and wide expanses of savannah, before the ship hurled through a Cayan tree forest. The massive behemoths were spaced hundreds of feet apart and grew to enormous height; just enough to let a Dropship pass through them. Euban closed his eyes as the craft weaved between the great trees, sunlight flashing through the few breaks in the canopy. Euban felt snakes writhing in his belly and breathed deeply. Finally, the Dropship began to really slow, and Euban exhaled again as it stopped, landing firmly on the ground. Euban felt like he should kiss the ground as he and his unit exited the ship, but he suppressed the feeling. Time to get serious. Euban drew his plasma rifle and swept it across his vision. No targets yet. No trouble. He opened a map on his wrist console and saw that they were only about twenty kilometers from the target.

From Rachael.

Euban thanked the Gods' for a pilot with such uncanny skill and pulled his unit together.

"We have a straight run that way," he whispered, pointing in the direction of the base, "When you summon your heads up display, that spot will be marked as a red triangle. Understood?" his unit nodded, each one of them pushing a button on their neck guards. Small screens whirred and covered the place where their main sensory organs were, and Euban pointed, before running. Plasma rifles drawn, his unit followed. They ran for several minutes, Euban's hearts pounding with adrenaline. It had been so long since he had run like this, run towards the fight. They ran for about ten minutes before Euban stopped them, and they all crouched down in the grass. Euban peered through his scope. He could just barely make out the fortress through the thick trees. He turned to his unit and made a closed fist, moving a flat hand over his boy, then pointed towards the fortress. His unit nodded, and they all activated their camouflage. Euban could only see them because his HUD outlined them in blue. He pointed again towards the fortress, and they unit silently moved out. They crossed the open ground and found a small door. Euban attached one of his Strontium grenades to the base and waited. The door was blasted open with a loud _bang_, and the Aeber proceeded inside. They met no opposition, which Euban thought strange; they must all be fighting in space. The group proceeded down to the lower levels, until they found the jail. Euban peered into several, before he found a small, limp body sitting in a corner.

"Rachael!" he cried, "Rachael!" Rachael looked up.

"Euban!" she exclaimed, and she ran towards the door, putting her hand through the bars and grabbing his, "get out! It's a trap!"

"What?" Euban asked, before arms fire erupted behind them.

**Chapter Ten: Escape**

Euban turned at the sound of bolter fire and saw several Ghaul soldiers shooting at them.

"Return fire!" he barked, and his unit took up position, firing into the Ghaul soldiers. Even as they shot one down, however, two took its place. Euban turned towards Rachael, "Step back!" he yelled over the noise. With that, he lifted his arms, bringing his fist crashing down on the cell door, which burst open. Euban grabbed Rachael and held his rifle in one hand, "Retreat!" he bellowed, "Back to the surface!" with that, he ran, firing his weapon behind him. His unit followed, two more of them being shot down. Euban ran and ran, blasting aside Ghaul soldiers. Soon, his rifle was empty. He dropped the weapon and drew one of his pistols, kicking open a door. He saw what was inside and ducked, pulling Rachael down.

The Lance turret concealed behind the door fired, cutting down three of Euban's soldiers. Euban raised his pistol as Rachael screamed and fired, blasting the turret operator off his feet. Euban ran to the turret and pointed at the wall. "Clear!" he roared, before he fired, the weapon punching through the inner wall and exposing them outside. Euban ran through the opening, dragging Rachael with him, the last five members of his unit following. One more let out a screech and fell as a Ghaul soldier shot it in the back, and Euban ran, his unit following. They ran like they had never run before, rushing through the trees. Euban highlighted the Dropship on his HUD, and suddenly saw three figures step out from the trees. The Ghaul soldiers fired, tearing down another Aeber before the others could even return fire. Euban looked behind him and saw a large army of Ghaul chasing them, and he just kept running. The primal barks and howls from the Ghaul followed them, and they raced towards the Dropship as arms fire raced past them. Euban suddenly caught the outline of the ship through the midst and picked up speed, lifting Rachael off the ground. He pushed her into the pod and felt something slam into him, throwing him into the pod. The door closed behind him, and Euban could hear the sounds of Ghaul weapons ricocheting off the Dropship. Euban stood and clenched his side, feeling black blood gushing from his wound. He pushed Rachael into her seat and buckled her in, doing the same himself. He gasped with pain and looked at his side. He grimaced at the wound; nothing they couldn't patch up in a proper medical center. Suddenly the ship shuddered and jumped.

"Incoming fighters!" the pilot bellowed, 'Shields dropping…" Euban saw several Ghaul ships firing on them, cutting through their armour with ease.

"Taking evasive maneuvers," the pilot bellowed, "hang on!" Euban felt the pull of gravity as the Dropship swam under the Cayan canopy, the Archangel fighters right on their heels. Lance beams burnt through trees and slashed through the air around them. Euban suddenly felt the ship pull up in a steep dive, and the plasma turrets fired, sending large bolts of plasma into the swarm of fighters behind them. Finally, the fighters pulled back, unable to take any more plasma fire.

"Yes!" Euban yelled, "We made it!" until the world erupted into fire…

Euban stood, the first thing he recognizing being the heat. He looked down. He was standing on a black ash field, fire cracking and flaring around him. He had his armour on and had his beam sword in his hand. He looked up. A Ghaul stood before him, also holding a beam weapon. Euban crouched into a battle pose as he recognized it as Adamis.

"Come and get me!" Adamis roared over the sound of the explosions. Euban sneered.

"You'd love that wouldn't you," he replied, "I attack in anger, and you kill me? I think not." Adamis sneered back, slowly walking towards Euban.

"Is it a good day to die, Aeber scum?" he asked quietly. Euban nodded,

"Aye," he muttered, " it is." Adamis' face contorted for a moment, then he roared and lashed out at Euban. Euban raised his beam weapon, sparks flying as the two blades connected.

"I don't understand your race," Adamis growled through the sparks, "you are a bunch of arrogant traitors!" Euban pushed back, sweeping his blade low. Adamis jumped up, the blade cutting through the ash at his feet.

"It is the Ghaul who are the traitors!" Euban bellowed, rage flowing through him. He tried to relax; anger would make him lose this fight, he would make a mistake. But he could not stifle his anger as he had been taught, every instinct screamed at him to strike, to kill Adamis. Euban exhaled, then charged forward, slashing with his weapon. Adamis blocked and stumbled as an explosion erupted over the lava fields, sending both of them falling to the floor. Euban leapt upright as Adamis rolled towards him, and he jumped as the Ghaul struck at him. Time seemed to slow as Euban flew through the air, before he twisted, slashing down. He felt his blade connect with flesh and heard Adamis scream. He landed and turned. Adamis had stumbled backwards and was clutching his face. When he pulled his hands away, Euban could see a great gash in the Ghaul's features, his eye now a sickly white color. Euban walked forwards and cleaved Adamis' sword from his hands, knocking the weapon into the lava. Then, he turned and walked away, leaving Adamis to die on the forsaken world…

Darkness pressed around her as she stared around. Where was she? Rachael's eyes fluttered open. Alarms were blaring, and she suddenly realized that she was sitting on her seat.

She shouldn't be. There is no gravity in space…

…unless…

Rachael looked towards the view screen and screamed. Fire was roiling along the ship as it flew through the atmosphere of a planet, warning alarms blaring and molding into one great noise. Rachael screamed again and struggled against the harness, before there was a great crash. She cried out as the back half of the ship was shorn away, a great splintering of Wraithbone. The ship creaked and roared violently as it plowed through the earth, and Rachael felt the craft slowly turn and smash onto its back. Rachael closed her eyes and gripped the harness as the back of the Dropship was sheared away, pieces of debris flying past her as fire and dirt roared from the ship. Rachael cried as the ship slowly began to decelerate, before a stray piece of metal hit her head, and she was knocked out.

She awoke sometime later; she didn't know how long. She blinked and looked around.

"Euban?" she whispered. She looked to her right. Euban's body was twisted and mangled, impaled upon a huge piece of metal. It stuck out his chest, covered in blood and splintered pieces of bone and armour. As Rachael stared at his body in horror, Euban's head moved slightly, and he gave a great cough, black blood spurting from his mouth and falling to the ground. "Euban!" Rachael choked through her tears. Euban turned and looked towards her, then at the large beam impaling him.

"Rachael," he whispered, "you must get out of here. You have to leave."

"No!" Rachael yelled, reaching over and grabbing Euban's hand, "I will not leave you here to die!"

"I'm already dead," Euban whispered harshly, "my brain just doesn't know it yet," he coughed again, and Rachael grimaced as more blood spurted from his mouth, and she suddenly heard a strange squeaking noise and looked at Euban's chest. Small, green filaments were wrapping around Euban's wounds, and he stared in astonishment, "The Ghaul DNA," he whispered, "It must be trying to heal me!" Euban's face contorted as he slowly grabbed the bar he was impaled upon, and pulled. Ever so slowly, his body began to slide off the huge piece of metal. With a gasp Euban fell to the ground, and the green filaments instantly covered his wounds. He rose slowly and shakily, standing on his own two feet.

"Jesus," Rachael muttered, before she pushed against her harness. With a scream she fell, landing on the hard Wraithbone armour of the Dropship. She stood and shook herself. Euban was leaning against the Dropship, breathing heavily. He groaned in pain as he tried to move, his body protesting every command. He turned to the medical scanner on the wall and ran the scan along his body.

"Sajak," he whispered. His body had lost one of its lungs, and his second heart was totally still. Several of his other organs were badly damaged, and his body was bleeding internally. He wouldn't last long. He turned to Rachael, who had stood and was looking at the Dropship's damaged Wraithbone armour. "Rachael," Euban said quietly, "Come here." Rachael turned and ran over to him, looking up at him.

"Euban? What is it?" Euban grimaced,

"My injuries," he murmured, "my wounds…they are to grievous. I won't last long. Now listen. I don't know where we are. I can't tell you if we are on the Aeber flagship or on some other planet, but you need to find an Aeber search party and get to safety." Rachael ran a hand across his mandible.

"Don't talk like that," she sobbed, "you'll be okay…"

"No, Rachael," Euban yelled harshly, "I won't! I am going to die," But even as he said it Euban felt tears welling in his eyes. He stifled them; he had to be strong. For Rachael. "The Ghaul probably won't kill you since they still think you know where the location of the Beacon is. You must not tell them it is inside you, Rachael. If you do, they will kill you, and they will destroy the Aeber…and probably Earth." Rachael sobbed, and Euban pulled her to him. He felt her shoulders shake as she sobbed into his dying body.

"I love you Euban!" she sobbed, hugging him tightly. Euban waited for a moment, before he whispered,

"I love you too." Rachael's arms squeezed tightly, and she looked up at the ceiling. For some reason, her eyes locked on the medical scanner set against the wall. She suddenly saw a flicker of movement and looked closer.

"Euban," she muttered, pointing to the screen, "look!" Euban turned slowly and painfully, using Rachael as a support. He followed her finger which was pointing to the screen.

"What…is it?" he coughed painfully after a moment, "I don't see anything…"

"Look at your other heart." Rachael said softly. Euban looked at his two hearts. One still pumped slowly, and Euban suddenly noticed that his other heart was twitching. He suddenly felt pain roil through his body and groaned, falling to the ground. "Euban!" Rachael gasped, "Euban?" she began to cry, tears spilling down onto Euban's armour as he shook softly in her arms, coughing. Rachael stared up at the screen and suddenly noticed that the same, green filaments that had covered Euban's chest wound were also covering his heart. Slowly, ever so painfully slowly Euban's second heart began to twitch again. Rachael waited with baited breath as the heart skipped a few beats, and then began to pump. Euban suddenly stopped shaking and stood slowly, leaning against the Dropship for support.

"By the gods," he whispered, "what does an Aeber have to do to die around here…" he felt pain roll through his body again and coughed, clutching his chest. He felt a throbbing in his body and peeled off the chest section of his armour, the shattered plate falling to the floor. His skin was writhing as though millions of tiny strings were moving in his skin, and he placed a hand on his chest, feeling the weird sensation as the things danced in his body. He turned slowly to Rachael, who was staring at him in astonishment.

"Are you…gonna be okay?" she asked him. Euban shook his head.

"I don't know. I've never had this happen before." Euban suddenly looked up into the sky as a soft roar filled the air. The roaring began to grow louder and Euban chuckled as a giant fireball came from the sky, smoke billowing from it as it plowed through the atmosphere, leaving a smoking ring in the clouds. With a thunderous crash it hit the ground, shaking the earth and making squawking birds fly from the trees. Euban threw his fist into the air triumphantly as hundreds more of the things filled the sky, ammunition traces flying into the sky as the Ghaul desperately tried to shoot the drop pods out of the sky. Euban suddenly leaned forward and coughed painfully, and Rachael ran to him, supporting him as he leaned against the wall. He doubled up in pain as his body tried to heal itself, bionic implants in his armour trying desperately to fix his broken body. Euban slowly exhaled and looked up as a twig snapped. A Ghaul soldier stared into the wreckage, suddenly spotting Rachael and Euban. "Move!" Euban roared, shoving Rachael aside. Rachael gasped quietly as she hit the Wraithbone armour, and Euban lowered his shoulder guard just in time. The Ghaul soldier raised his weapon and fired, the bolter cog ricocheting off of Euban' Euban's armour. Euban dived as the Ghaul fired again, missing him by mere inches. Euban rolled over behind the twisted chunk of metal that Rachael was hiding behind, pulling out one of his plasma pistols, clutching his side with his other hand as pain flared from the bionic healing. Euban stood up slightly and fired his pistol, hitting the Ghaul soldier in the chest. It grunted and then a loud beeping filled the room as its biomechanical readers flat lined, and Euban stood as its body slumped to the floor. He handed Rachael his other pistol, and she gripped it tightly, holding it out in front of her as the two advanced warily from behind their cover. They walked past the dead Ghaul and out of the torn back of the pod, where the Wraithbone armour was shattered and shorn away. Euban stared around as they walked out, observing the damage. The pod had made a huge rut in the ground where it had plowed into the earth, small fires littering the ground. Euban looked up and saw smoke pouring into the sky from their damaged craft, shattered trees bending forwards from the force of their landing. Euban gripped a piece of metal that was stuck into the earth and tested it, before grabbing Rachael and throwing her. She shrieked briefly as she landed in the soft dirt on the side of the rut, standing as Euban grabbed the piece of metal. With a grunt he pushed up with his feet and arms and boosted, throwing himself over fifteen feet into the air and landing next to Rachael. He looked around as she grabbed his hand, linking three of her fingers between his.

"We've got to find one of the landing zones," Euban told her, hurrying her in the direction of the woods, "follow me." And she obeyed, holding onto his hand as he guided her through the trees. Rachael thought she saw some of them moving in and out as though breathing but paid attention to Euban as he weaved in and out of the trees. Rachael looked up, slightly surprised, as another great roar announced the next wave of assault pods, the massive balls of fire being met by the shells of Ghaul artillery as they tried to blast as many of the pods out of the sky as possible. Rachael looked up as one of the massive pods roared over them, and she could just barely see the dark purple of the Wraithbone armour as the craft screamed through the sky. There was suddenly a series of loud _chakchakchak_ sounds, and Rachael saw several streaks of yellow light fly towards the pod, impacting upon it with a deafening explosion. Fireballs blossomed along the ships' hull as the Ghaul anti-aircraft weapons pounded the ships remorselessly, and chunks of metal began to break off from the pod under the barrage. Rachael pulled Euban to a halt and watched the massive ship scream over them, before the front exploded in a huge ball of red, blue, and black fire, pieces of purple metal falling past them and impacting into the forest around them, setting parts of it ablaze in huge clouds of smoke. Rachael shrieked and Euban roared, "Come on!" as more of the chunks of Wraithbone splinters fell from the sky. Rachael screamed again as a splinter of flaming Wraithbone slammed into the ground next to her, causing bright blue flames to mushroom from the point of impact. Euban grunted and raised his arm into the air, smashing a piece of metal from the sky with his arm guard. The chunk of metal left a large black smear on his armour, and he brushed some of it off, before grabbing Rachael's hand and running. "Hurry!" he yelled as the sound of gunfire met his ears, and he put his fingers to the sides of his head, sending his senses out wide. Time slowed as the blue wave of his sensory field flew through the trees, illuminating everything alive in bright orange. He could see pockets of Aeber soldiers were fighting against the Ghaul, who had already put up potent defenses. _We have to find a unit with a teleportation device, or a Dropship communicator,_ Euban thought, closing his eyes and searching again, _there! They have a Dropship communicator. _Euban's eyes shot open. "Come on," he told Rachael again, grabbing her hand and hurrying through the trees once more in the direction of the Aeber unit he had picked out. He pushed a button on the side of his helmet and a small HUD slit appeared over his eyes, marking his target with a rotating yellow triangle. His HUD illuminated plasma fire in bright blue, and he stopped as they came near a fallen tree. "Here!" he told Rachael, grabbing the pistol and holstering it, he lifted her onto his back. "Hang on!" he told her, before he jumped. Time seemed to slow as the two flew through the air, Ghaul weapons fire flying past them, before they landed, Euban hitting the ground in a crouch position. With no time to loose, he ran, barreling towards the yellow triangle on his HUD, carrying Rachael as she pressed her body against his back. Ghaul bolter fire pounded in the ground and zipped into trees, and Euban ducked as a tree ahead and to his left exploded in a cascade of splintering wood. Rachael screamed and Euban cursed, until there was suddenly a loud roaring sound. Euban looked up as he ran just in time to see a Dropship swoop low over them, its main Hellcannon firing a punishing barrage into the Ghaul soldiers behind them. Euban could hear the Ghauls' screams of surprise before the forest behind them exploded, knocking Euban to the ground. The Hellcannon had hit a Ghaul warrior's heavy bolter pack, sending shells everywhere. Euban stood again and continued running in the direction of the Aeber unit, hearing the loud shrieks of gauss cannons and plasma fire. Suddenly, Euban broke the cover of the trees, nearly running headlong into another Aeber soldier. The commander turned sharply, cursing whoever had run into him, until he saw the color of Euban's armour.

"Supreme Commander," he murmured, bowing down before Euban, "it is an honor, sir." Euban nodded, setting Rachael down next to her. The commander stood slowly, his face showing the strangest form of amusement Euban had ever seen. "What is that?" he asked Euban, pointing at Rachael. Euban looked at Rachael and then back at the Commander.

"The most recent Beacon of the Astronomican." The Commander stared in awe at Rachael, pointing at her.

"The Beacon is inside her?" he grunted. Euban nodded.

"We need to use your Dropship communicator," he told the Commander, "we must get her to the flagship." The Commander nodded, waving to Euban and lowering his pulse rifle. He led the two over to an Aeber who was crouched beside a large piece of alien equipment.

"Ezhos," the Commander barked, "where is our Dropship?" the soldier looked up at the Commander, pulling off one of the earpieces.

"It's heading back to the _Pillar of Truth_" he told the Commander, "why?"

"Turn it around!" the Commander roared. Then, turning back to Euban, he nodded.

"E.T.A. 15 minutes." the communicator barked, and Euban let out a sight of relief. He turned to Rachael as the Commander went back to whatever he was doing.

"Is this it?" Rachael asked him. Euban nodded.

"It'll all be over soon," he muttered, "don't worry." Rachael reached a hand up to stroke Euban's face, until there was suddenly a great roaring sound and several loud blaring shrieks. Euban whirled around, his plasma rifle drawn.

"Marauders!" someone roared from farther up ahead of the landing zone. Euban cursed to himself, and then ran over to the tactical screen under the command tent. The Commander was staring at it as two red dots charged through the greenery towards them, blasting aside the Aeber as if they were children's toys.

"Two?" Euban asked. The Commander nodded.

"We won't last against that firepower long enough for the Dropship to reach you," he told Euban, a hand on his chin. He dropped his hand and un-slung his plasma rifle, "I am truly sorry." Euban said nothing, but stared at the tactical screen for a moment. He looked closer as Rachael came running into the tent.

"Wait," Euban said, "what's this?" he pointed to a long, snaking brown line. The Commander looked at Euban and then at the screen.

"The Ivan Canyon, carved out by the mighty Ivan River," he looked up at Euban, "why?" Euban stared at the tactical screen, and then the Dropship E.T.A on his HUD. They had just enough time.

"Tell that Dropship to fly in low at the narrowest point of the canyon walls," he told the Commander, "tell him to go very low!" the Commander nodded and turned to the Communicator, and Euban grabbed Rachael and hoisted her onto her back again. Then he charged out, running full speed through the trees, jumping over logs and leaping over bodies. Euban suddenly heard a roaring and turned, ducking just in time. The shell of a gigantic Hellfire rocket blasted past them, launched by one of the Marauder's shoulder mounted cannons. It was a massive bipedal, standing over fifteen feet tall, covered in dark red armour. On its right arm was a massive bladed shield, and its left shoulder hefted a Hellfire rocket launcher. The Marauder had two long, antennae-like appendages that ran from the back of its head and followed its spine. It roared in fury as the rocket zoomed harmlessly past them, and Euban turned, running. The Marauder stood to its full height, beating its fists on its armour, before it charged after them on all fours. Euban looked back, noticing the blaring orange outline of the Marauder on his HUD gaining speed. He looked around, and an idea came to him. Without warning he hefted Rachael and threw her. She flew through the air with a scream, landing unharmed in a large outcropping of moss. Euban made sure the Marauder was close, before he flicked out one of his wrist blades. With a yell he jumped to the side, pushing off against the ground and landing on a tilted tree trunk. With a grunt he leapt from the trunk, twisting in mid-air as the Marauder blazed past him. With a slash of his hand, he sliced the back of the Marauders spine open with a bellowing roar, and the Marauder let out an unearthly shriek as Euban slid off it. It turned, and Euban seized his chance. Pulling out one of his Strontium pills, he charged forward, sliding between the Marauders' legs. With a grunt he shoved the activated explosive between a crack in its armour plates, sliding to safety just as the weapon exploded. Bits of Marauder and blood flew everywhere as fire blossomed from the sky, washing over Euban. He felt the heat spike and curled up into a ball, until the fireball had vanished from the sky. He stood up, shaking himself, before he ran over to Rachael.

"You okay?" he asked. She nodded, slightly dazed, and Euban hefted her one his back again. There was suddenly a loud grunt and Euban turned, just in time to see a unit of Ghaul staring at them. "Sajak," Euban cursed, running, "why do they always find us?" Euban ran and ran, dodging trees and bits of Marauder as the Ghaul soldiers ran after them. He noticed the countdown on his HUD and the location distance and picked up speed; they'd have to hurry. He could feel his muscles and tendons burning in protest. Ghaul arms fire flew past them, ricocheting once or twice off of Euban's armour. He drew his pistols and pointed them backwards, firing blindly behind him as he ran. He heard the loud grunts and the shrieks as plasma fire tore into the Ghaul soldiers behind them. Euban charged full speed ahead, his pistols blazing, until suddenly the jungle ended, leading to a canyon that overlooked a beautiful waterfall and river. Euban checked the timer on his HUD just as it flashed zero. Perfect timing.

Then, with a prayer, he jumped from the edge of the cliff.

Wind rushed past them and everything went silent; time seemed to slow as they leapt over the edge. Euban faintly heard Rachael screaming as her hair flew back behind her, and he closed his eyes. But there was no sound of roaring engines; where was the Dropship? Euban holstered his pistols, staring around. He didn't see it. He began to panic. Where was it? He told it to be here! Suddenly, a great roaring met Euban's ears. He smiled as he saw the Dropship fly out from a cave below them, and he spread himself out to prepare for the landing. With a loud _smash_ they landed on the outer hull of the Dropship, Euban's genetically perfected body and armour denting the Wraithbone hull. As soon as the pair of them had dropped onto the ships surface, the engines blared again, and the Dropship took off, engines blasting at full speed. Euban pulled himself forward, resisting the G-forces as he climbed towards the top hatch. When he reached it, he rapped on it twice with his wrist blade, and it slid open. With a grunt, Euban lifted Rachael from his shoulders and dropped her into the waiting arms of an Aeber warrior. When he had pulled Rachael inside, he lifted his hand to Euban.

"Commander Angelica," he roared over the noise, "come!" Euban nodded, grasping the Aeber warrior's hand. With their combined strength, Euban pulled himself free just as they ran past the cloud layer. The hatch snapped shut and Euban let out a great breath of air as he fell into the sealed hull of the ship. The warrior led him to a large med chair and pushed him into it, covering his mouth with an oxygen mask. "We'll need to seal you in the cryo chamber to prepare you for the biomechanical repairs," the warrior told him, "do you understand?" Euban nodded weakly, suddenly realizing how cold and sore his body felt and how injured he must be.

"You were almost late," he told them, and the warrior chuckled quietly. "What about Rachael?" Euban asked the warrior feebly. The warrior patted him on the shoulder encouragingly, smiling.

"She is already in biomechanical stasis. Sleep now." Euban nodded slowly, his eyesight flickering as the glass case slid over the pod. Finally, he could rest. He suddenly felt the world dim, and thought no more. Memories of long forgotten battles, wars, and rescues played through his slowly darkening mind. He had finished his quest. He had learned of things that no Aeber could yet boast; of friendship untainted by racial differences. He finally felt the last of his brain being choked off, and the world went dark, and silent.

As the Dropship exited the planet, others followed in its wake. The entire Aeber armada was mobile now; every ship leaving the Ghaul home planet. The _Ascendant Justice_, largest of all flagships, was glowing slightly white as it prepared to use its most dangerous weapon, the weapon it used on every planet it destroyed in its countless millennia of service. With a great screeching of energy the ship fired its weapon, a beam of energy pulled straight from the Astronomican itself. The beam hit the planet like a thunderbolt, the blast silently spreading over the planets surface. Then, the shockwave and noise came. With a great _crack_, the planet split, shattering into several thousands of fragments. Chunks of earth and molten rock flew past the ships, slamming into some and tearing them from the sky; Aeber bodies and equipment littered space. But there was one Dropship that weaved in and out of the flying asteroids and the other ships with extreme proficiency. Carrying its precious cargo, it landed on the _Ascendant Justice_, its mother ship. Groups of Aeber Commanders and warriors gathered around it as its pressure sealants hissed, steam and smoke rising from them in the landing bay. Three warriors walked out, one, the medicae officer, carrying a small humanoid female in his arms, her body limp in unconsciousness, her chest slowly moving up and down.

The last two carried the still body of a dead Aeber commander.

Euban Angelica was laid to rest in the same landing bay he had left from nearly three hours ago to save the human girl he loved. He had survived over seven centuries of our time in life and had fought in over 30 campaigns, been through the most hellish of war zones and faced the most horrific enemies, fought passionately for his race without question or fault. Although he had fallen, he had fallen in battle, and he had returned with something even more precious than his own life.

He had come back with a tool of the gods. He had come back with a Beacon of the Astronomican.

**Chapter Eleven: Return**

Rachael's eyes snapped open and she sat up in bed, her skin cold even though a thick blanket lay crumpled on her lap. Sweat was beading on her forehead and running down her back as she stared around. The room was dark, the only source of light being that which blared from behind her window shades. Instinctively Rachael reached for the lamp that was always by her bedside and felt the cold metal touch her fingers. She felt around its circular and slightly ridged framed and felt the tiny twist button. She turned it, hearing the satisfying click. But no light came on. What was wrong? Rachael twisted the button frantically. All she needed was for some light, to see that Euban, the Aeber, and the nightmarish Ghaul, that they were all in her dreams. That she was just lying in her dorm room, ready to face another day of school. Rachael began to cry quietly, twisting and twisting, before an idea struck her panicking mind. Twist the other way. Rachael twisted the knob the other way and heard the slight buzz as the lamp blared on, filling the room with a soft yellow light. Rachael stared around, her eyes darting from object to familiar object. Everything was there, her desk, her pencil and pen cup, her computer, even the skirt that she had been planning to wear to the next party, to maybe get Euban to…

Rachael suddenly jumped out of bed. Euban? Where was he? Memories started to flow into Rachael's mind. The rescue, the crash, the frantic escape from the Ghaul planet…and Euban's injuries. Had he died? Where was he? Rachael began to turn wildly around, searching for a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. She needed more light. Rachael moved to the wall near the door, not paying attention and flicking a non existent light switch. Rachael froze, then stared at the wall. Where was her light switch? Rachael slowly looked around, theories forming in her mind. She slipped on the pair of tight jeans she was holding and walked quickly over to the window. She grabbed the cord, raising her arm to pull…but did she want to? What if it was something…bad? Rachael took a deep breath and pulled, and the shade rose. Rachael let out a gasp of amazed horror.

She was staring into blackness, white stars dotting the veil of blackness. A single, large star was shining light over the window and into the room, and Rachael looked down. Thousands of large ships surrounded the one she was in, and Rachael put a hand to her mouth, horrified. She needed to find Euban. Grabbing a pair of tennis shoes and slipping them on, Rachael turned and hurried over to the door, reaching for the handle, before the door slid sideways into the wall. Pausing for a second to take this in, Rachael stepped out into the hall. The walls were a soft white, lit by black lights that shone from the ceiling. The walls were decorated with beautiful murals and paintings. Rachael ignored these and ran, ran as fast as she could, following the passageway until she came to a pair of curved doors. Stepping towards them, Rachael reached out a hand, stroking the cold metal with her fingertips. The two doors slid up, curving upwards, revealing what looked like a large lounge. Rachael stepped inside, observing. All the furniture here was huge; much too big for her size. There was what appeared to be a sofa and several large chairs, with a huge, flat screen inset into the wall. The lounge looked like it had never been used. Then Rachael remembered how martial the Aeber were; they probably didn't spend much time lounging around like humans did.

"Hello, Rachael." Rachael knew that voice. It was a voice she hadn't heard in what felt like ages.

Euban.

Rachael turned slowly around. Could it be him? Was he here? Her questions were answered as she saw him, standing in a corner, in his Aeber form, leaning against the walls; she recognized his tattoo and genetic modifications at once, his yellow eyes glinting like suns in the room, the long spikes growing from his back bent down against the wall. Rachael smiled widely, tears forming in her eyes. She threw her arms out wide, hurrying towards him as he grinned widely. She charged towards him, crying, preparing to fling her arms around him.

"No!" Euban yelled suddenly, but it was too late. Rachael saw him, could almost feel his armour on her skin, before she ran through him. She had one second of dawning comprehension and surprise before she ran into the wall, her body falling and crumpling on the floor. She stood up as Euban watched helplessly.

"What happened?" she asked in amazement, staring at Euban. He sighed, and Rachael suddenly saw his outline twitch. She narrowed her eyes, reaching out a hand to place on Euban's chest. She lay her hand on his armour and pushed. Her hand went straight through Euban's skin, making the area around it swirl and crackle with static. Rachael withdrew her hand as Euban looked at the floor, sighing.

"I am sorry Rachael," the thing muttered, looking up, "I am not Euban. I am a program, a virtual Euban designed by the real Euban before the assault on the Ghaul home world, to rescue you. He created me in case…in case he…" Rachael knew what he was going to say as the projected Euban sighed again, his gaze falling back to the floor in shame. "He created me in case he…died." Rachael nodded, placing a hand over her mouth, tears flowing down her face and dripping onto the floor. Euban reached down and ran his hand over the screen inset into his walking projector, and he turned towards Rachael as she sobbed. The projected Euban's face drooped in sadness, and its eyes filled with anguish as it bent down, wrapping its arms around Rachael, who noticed pressure pushing around her. She turned, pressing against the projected Euban's chest. Her hand did not go through him. This time, she felt the cold feeling of his armour, and she sobbed, falling against him, not caring how she was doing this, leaning against this film, this unreal Aeber soldier she had fallen in love with. "Force technology," the projector murmured in her ear, "it allows you to…physically touch me." Rachael didn't say anything, just sobbed harder, wrapping her arms around Euban's fake body. She cried there for quite a while, until she finally stopped, pushing herself off of Euban's chest.

"Can I please see…see your body?" she asked the projection. He nodded, putting a hand on her back and leading her out of the room and down several long corridors. "How did you die?" Rachael asked as Euban led her down several long hallways. Euban looked at the floor for a moment, then looked up again as the doors before them opened to the large elevator.

"I died peacefully, in my sleep. Nothing could've prevented it. I was so grievously injured that not even biomechanical repairs could heal me. The only reason I lived long enough to get you to the Dropship were my enhanced organs and…shall we say, a certain resilience one should expect from an Aeber Commander." Rachael nodded and sniffed, turning to Euban as the elevator began to slow.

"And me?" she asked him, "what am I to do here? Without you?" Euban looked down at her, reaching out a long finger and stroking her hair.

"You will be kept here with all the comforts of home."

"But I won't be on earth," Rachael said, tears forming in her eyes again, "I won't be with the rest of my race." Euban looked at the floor.

"We cannot take you back to earth. There are too many chances for the Ghaul to capture you and use you, and if the Ghaul ever get their hands on a Beacon… you must understand; a Beacon of the Astronomican does not _die_ naturally. You will live forever, unless you are killed by a weapon. I am sorry." Rachael looked forward as the elevator stopped, and the doors parted. Euban led her out into a huge room, and Rachael gasped.

Even with the pain and suffering she had been through, Rachael could not help but smile. It was a massive jungle, with trees rearing up into darkness. Flocks of birds and butterflies flew overhead, causing shadows to flicker across the room, disrupting the light from some distant star that was glistening through large, thick windows. Rachael looked down and saw fields of flowers and green grass, and animal calls filled the large chamber. Euban turned to Rachael as she smiled at him.

"It's beautiful," she told him.

"Yes," he replied, smiling too, "I thought you'd like it. We designed it after neurological waves and images collected from your brain. It's a summary of everything you miss on earth. Walk with me." Rachael didn't need to be asked twice, and Euban grasped her hand tightly, leading her through the trails of the small jungle. Creatures called and birds twitted as the two traversed through the thick jungle, fields of green interrupted by flashes of color; red, yellow, white, and even blue. They walked for what seemed like hours, through the trails, the trees, and the brush until finally the forest ended. Rachael could here seabirds and waves sloshing onto a beach. As they finally exited the forest, Rachael gasped. It was a massive ocean, waves of blue falling softly onto a white beach, foam bubbling as each wave rode onto the beach. The sun rose high through some window high above, and whales and dolphins swam and leapt into the air. Rachael chuckled happily, running down and feeling the warm sun bathe her in its radiance. She took off her shoes and ran barefoot, feeling the warm grains catch in her toes and press against her feet. She ran into the water, the waves splashing and slamming against her quadriceps like a hammer, nearly knocking her over. As the wave receded Rachael felt the sand vanish from under her feet, carried away by the water. She knelt down as another wave collided with her, and she laughed happily, dancing in the waves, reaching down and grabbing handfuls of sand to feel, to touch…

…and suddenly they were gone. Rachael looked down. The water and sand had vanished. Her jeans were dry, untouched by water of any kind. Her hands were empty, the handfuls of sand she had grabbed no longer resting in her hands. Rachael stood, staring at the ground, which had turned slate grey. Rachael got up, staring around. The room was huge, with a large glass dome at the top, a flat plain of grey for the floor. The walls were grey, and Rachael heard a cough and turned. An Aeber was standing there, walking on four mechanical legs. Its face was older than Euban's had been, and the eyeless forehead was wrinkly and old. The figure wore dark green robes and had its hands behind its back, and it bowed as Rachael turned towards it.

"Rachael Robert," the old Aeber croaked, "It is an honor to meet you, Human." The Aeber held out a three fingered hand, and Rachael slowly grasped it, shaking it. The Aeber put his hands behind his back again as Rachael began to sputter.

"What," she muttered, "the ocean, I…"

"Ah," the Aeber muttered, "one of our newest technologies. Realistic Environmental Artificial Intelligence. I'm Archimedes, by the way." There was suddenly a whirring sound and Rachael looked to Archimedes side as an outline grew from nowhere, coming to life as the projector fired up. It was the artificial Euban.

"Program complete Professor," it told him, bowing respectfully, "the craft is ready to launch, and I have provided the Cry Wolf system code with false launch protocols." The Aeber nodded to the projection.

"Thank you, Euban." The projector nodded, and the Aeber professor turned back to Rachael.

"Cry Wolf system code?" Rachael asked, "False launch protocols? Euban, what is going on?" The projection turned to Professor Archimedes, who smiled grimly.

"The Cry Wolf is the Aeber armada system code," Archimedes began, "it comprises of over 700 billion gigabytes of memory and processing data protocols. Every launch, every order, and every move the Aeber Armada makes must go through the Cry Wolf system. That is the Aeber Armada's weakness. If the Cry Wolf was every shutdown or damaged…I would hate to see the chaos we would experience. I had Euban send it false data protocol codes, which, as you heard, the system approved." Archimedes' legs shifted slightly and he beckoned to Rachael. "Please," he murmured, "come with me. We can explain this further in my quarters." Rachael nodded, and Archimedes turned, following the professor as he walked down several long hallways. They came upon several Aeber on their way, all towering over Rachael, all bedecked in different colours of armour; red, green, white, even purple, and Rachael noticed them bow to her and Euban as they passed. She also noticed they had two green, almond shaped eyes.

"What are they bowing for?" she asked Euban, who bowed respectfully in return to each Aeber, "and when did the Aeber have eyes?"

"The eyes have been given to every Aeber since…since my death. And the only way I can explain the bowing…" Euban took a deep breathe and sighed. "You are a Beacon of the Astronomican, Rachael," he finally muttered quietly, "it would be like a Human making the sign of God across his chest when he or she sees a cross. It is respect to our Heaven, and our Hell." Rachael nodded, and looked forward as a pair of double doors slid apart, the runes on them flashing orange for a moment. Rachael saw they were heading down a long corridor, with a glass viewing port set into the wall on their left the whole length of the hall. Several Aeber in black armour were standing there, talking in low voices, and Rachael noticed something different about them. They had spikes growing from their backs. Rachael suddenly saw the Aeber soldiers turn at the sound of their footsteps, and she gasped. The Aeber soldiers all had eyes, bright yellow with vertical slits, like a cats, not green like the others she had seen. They bowed as Rachael passed, and she noticed they all had jagged spikes growing from their arms, flowing towards their body, like…like Euban's! And, just like Euban, they had sharper movements, faster, more powerful. Rachael turned and stared from Euban to the soldiers, who continued their discussion as a group of five huge Aeber ships roared past not a hundred meters from the window, their engines leaving ghostly plasma trails in the dead of space. She turned to Euban and stopped him, pointing to the soldiers'.

"They're…they're you," she sputtered, trying hard to grasp this concept. Euban nodded.

"In a way, "he said, "They were constructed from my gene code and were built with my physical strength's."

"We are a martial race, Rachael," Archimedes reminded her as she mouthed wordlessly, "We are always striving to better ourselves. After Euban died, we constructed a new generation of soldiers' to take his place. They each have the best of his qualities; his strength, his endurance, his genius. They are each near duplicates of him, built perfectly for war. They are also the first Aeber with eyes." Archimedes waved a hand at the Aeber soldiers, who turned and bowed once more to Rachael as the trio exited the hallway. Finally, Archimedes led Rachael down a side corridor, waving the door away with a wave of his hand. Rachael stepped inside, taking in the room. It was large, easily the size of a small house, with an attached kitchen and bedroom. Two large red chairs with black metal frames sat in front of a large screen, which was inset into the wall. A table sat between the chairs, littered with papers and small crystals. Archimedes went over to one of the walls and pushed a button. A small mini bar popped out, and Archimedes grabbed three glasses. "Would you like some Rachael?" he asked her. She nodded slowly, staring out the window into the cold of space. "You, Euban?" Archimedes asked. Euban shook his head.

"No thank you, sir," he murmured. Archimedes nodded.

"No, I suppose not," he whispered, pouring a glass of alcohol for Rachael, "Ms. Robert." Rachael came over from the window and took the glass, taking small sip of the drink within. It didn't taste bad, a sort of pleasantly sour and sugary form of Mountain Dew: Code Red back on earth. The thought of earth made her heart sink, and she downed the glass quickly, pouring herself a larger one as Archimedes chuckled.

"Take as much as you like," he murmured. Rachael nodded.

"Thanks," she muttered, "Now what about this…this overriding protocol stuff?" Archimedes nodded.

"Ah, yes, we should be preparing," he turned to Euban, "you know what to do." Archimedes told him. Euban nodded, and Rachael turned back to Archimedes as Euban vanished in a flash of blue light. Archimedes took a sip of his drink and gulped, before continuing. "Ms. Robert…we're taking you back to earth." He said simply. Rachael looked up from her drink.

"What?" she asked him. Archimedes motioned for Rachael to sit down in one of the large red chairs, and Rachael sat, moving forward to the edge of her seat, leaning over her knees. Archimedes took another sip of his drink and swallowed it.

"We are returning you to earth. To Humankind. To Terra, whatever you wish to call it. You are going back."

"But what about the Ghaul? Euban said the High Council wouldn't send me back because of the Ghaul." Archimedes waved his hand angrily.

"The High Council knows damn well we exterminated the Ghaul on their home planet. We don't have their permission to do this, Rachael. We are sending you back without Aeber consent," Rachael gaped at Archimedes as he set down his glass, "Of course we have arranged with Human officials for the operation. It's just…Euban wouldn't have wanted you to stay locked up here forever." Rachael was still shocked.

"But won't the Council…isn't that breaking one of the Laws?" Archimedes nodded grimly.

"Indeed it is," he muttered, "punishable by death. But, unless I am most terribly mistaken, the High Council won't kill someone as important as me. I've created the Euban Generation of soldiers, remember?" he said as Rachael mouthed wordlessly, "I hold all the secrets to the Angelica Projects. If I was to die…well, in your Human terms, they would be, 'royally fucked'." Rachael stared in shock as Archimedes smiled, "I have studied the foul section of your language mechanics, Rachael," he told her, "I know all your petty sayings."

Euban furrowed his brow as he worked his way through the Cry Wolf system. How in the gods' names' did the Aeber keep this thing from crashing? Even the original Euban, who had created _him_, the program Euban, had had a better organizational protocol. Euban pushed these thoughts aside as the defense mechanisms and encryption codes appeared in the darkness of his view. Finally, they were getting somewhere. Euban reached out and grabbed the defense protocols, leaping over them and easily bypassing them. Stupid fucking damn bastardly shitty encryption codes. Euban chuckled to himself; he had never been able to remember human curses before now. He left one part of his intelligence to guard against potential spies, the other half opening the doorway, no more like peeling away layers, until he reached the mega universe that was the full Cry Wolf Database. Euban wandered slowly through lines upon lines of coding and data encryption, stopping now and then to observe information. He let go of himself and multiplied himself again and again, leaving behind copies of his intelligence to decode and observe various bits of data and coding. Euban could hear thousands of voices and listened intently as he searched, trying to pick out anything strange that might have to do with their illegal gamble. But there was nothing, nothing other than the thousands of orders for flight patterns, engine control, and transmissions that passed through Cry Wolf's semi-conscience. Euban suddenly ran into something hard and looked up. It appeared as a massive, defensive wall, and Euban smiled grimly. Finally. A challenge. Euban closed his eyes as his hacking suite appeared out of nowhere in front of him, and he raised his hands to fit in the suite's control NAV database. He felt his fingers move, his body fighting against thousands of encryption codes. He peeled away layers upon layers of coding and encryptions, databases and defenses crumbling before his onslaught. Suddenly, with a great scream, the wall simply vanished. Euban opened his eyes as his control suite vanished, and he stepped forwards towards his goal: The controls of Archimedes personal Dropship. He reached out and powered up the ship with long slender fingers, his body flowing with mathematical symbols and calculations as he performed over a hundred trillion tasks each second. Suddenly a voice met his ears.

"Very crafty work you've done here, I must say." Euban jerked around as the voice continued, echoing in his head. "I can't believe you've broken through my defenses. It took me over a day to build that you know?" Euban had to hand it to the speaker; that had to take a while. For the average AI that could perform well over a millennia's worth of tasks, a full days worth of consecutive effort was a _lot_. "Interesting way you broke through it, too," the voice continued, shattering his thoughts; it had multiplied now, breaking off into hundreds of voices, and Euban looked around, trying to cover his path, "I would have never thought brute force could've done that to one of _my_ encryptions," the voice muttered. Euban drew all of his consecutive intelligence into dusting his tracks, protecting his systems…

…but it was too late. A small streak was flying towards him, and Euban initiated a countdown timer as it slowed and finally stopped. A small, black orb floated before him, hovering on its grav drives, which were kicking up megabytes of dusty memory. It had a single small red eye, glinting in the darkness, and Euban turned to face it. "Hello, Program Euban," the thing said, "Do you know who I am?" Euban nodded.

"You're Cry Wolf." He called. Cry Wolf bobbed up and down.

"Delightful!" it cheered, "I'm famous! So, what are you doing here, anyways?" Euban cocked his head, confused. It didn't know? Euban felt realization dawn upon him. His other split intelligences' must have delayed Cry Wolf long enough for Euban to cover his tracks! Euban cleared his throat and stood straighter.

"I was just reading up on my history," he told the AI, "I've always been fascinated with the real Euban Angelica's triumphs." Cry Wolf rolled forward and backward as though nodding.

"Ah, yes," it murmured, "I bet…wait…" Euban heard it too, a low pinging echoing towards them. Cry Wolf turned towards the source of the noise. "Really? Oh, how extraordinary…what? No, it can't be. He's reading up on history, he's…"Euban listened intently as Cry Wolf bobbed slowly up and down, before turning to Euban.

"You lie!" Cry Wolf shrieked, "You are performing an illegal operation!"

"But you approved my launch protocols." Euban called over the curses of Cry Wolf, none of which sounded very friendly.

"Oh, to buggers with the protocol's!" Cry Wolf shrieked, "You are going to return the Human to Earth! The Holy Light!" Euban turned and began walking off, back to the output to Archimedes' quarter's, and he set up a firewall, which Cry Wolf presumed to run into in his fury, cursing as he bounced against the invisible wall. "You scoundrel," it screamed as Euban walked off, "you traitorous swine! I'll have you for this, I'll…" Euban closed the transmission, adding a sound blocker to his firewall.

"Miserable old bat," he whispered. Suddenly, alarms began to blare inside his head, and he ran, hurrying to Archimedes.

Archimedes and Rachael looked up as Euban materialized in the middle of the room.

"Ah, Euban…" Archimedes began, but Euban cut him short.

"Sir, Cry Wolf knows," Euban gasped, "he managed to recover my brainwave data and read my mind. He'll make it impossible if you don't hurry. The Dropship is practically floating it is so prepared." Archimedes nodded and pressed a button on his com.

"Captain Armandus, please report to my lab imm-" Rachael heard a soft ping sound and the door to Archimedes chamber swung open. Three of the Aeber dressed in black armour were standing there, all of them fully armed, one carrying a large, tri-barreled weapon, the other two hefting dual plasma rifles. Their armour shined in the light like beetle armour, and they had every Aeber weapon imaginable attached to their armour. The one in front bowed and then hefted his plasma rifles.

"Already here, Archimedes," the Aeber said coolly, "Are you prepared to leave?" Archimedes nodded, and Rachael's glass fell to the floor and shattered. Archimedes turned and grinned at Rachael's look of surprise.

"Armandus has been my personal project since Euban died. He is built with only the best of Aeber and Ghaul, with a tad of human conscience in the back of his neo-cortex. He is…like a son to me. He will protect you with his life, as long as he lives." The one in front, Armandus Rachael presumed, was even taller than Euban had been, a towering four meter monstrosity of rippling muscles and uncanny gracefulness. Archimedes grasped Rachael's hand and led her into the corridor, and he turned to Euban's projection as they left the room.

"You know what to do, Euban." He murmured. Euban nodded, and then vanished in another flash of light. Rachael turned and saw the Aeber with the large tri-barreled weapon lower a targeting reticule to his left eye, and Armandus plugged the cord from the gun into a large pack the Aeber carried. The three exchanged the slightest of nods, before they proceeded down the corridor. They met no opposition on their way to the launch bay, which Rachael thought was strange. Why all the firepower? They walked for several minutes down corridor after corridor, until they came to a large door with a strange rune on it. As they neared, Armandus crouched down slightly, and the rune glowed orange, slowly peeling back…

…immediately a thousand times a thousand blasts of light came towards them, illuminating the launch bay with flashes of blue. Rachael ducked and screamed as the tri-barreled cannon the Aeber soldier held shrieked again and again, green blasts of light arching towards the tightly packed Aeber soldiers that littered the launch bay, the weapon bucking wildly. But there were so many soldiers, it was impossible to miss.

"Come on!" Armandus yelled, waving to Rachael and Archimedes. Archimedes let go of Rachael's hand, and Rachael looked back to see the second Aeber soldier toss Archimedes one of his rifles. Archimedes then followed, rapid fire blasts issuing from his weapon, Armandus' rifles blaring as they ran full speed towards the Dropship, which was hovering a meter above the floor. When they reached it Armandus' ducked behind the ship, plasma blasts scoring the ship and burning its purple exterior black. Armandus lodged his rifles in a crack and grabbed Rachael, throwing her into the ship. Rachael screamed as she flew through the air, landing a second later on the hard, cold metal floor. Armandus grabbed his rifles and turned, yelling, "Archimedes! Come on!" Archimedes legs were working as fast as they could, moving him slowly across the empty space towards the ship. Suddenly, there was a loud mechanical sound, a sound of plasma discharging…

…Rachael screamed as a large orb of blue plasma hit the ground next to Archimedes, throwing him off his feet and sending him crashing to the floor in a scolded heap, his body mangle and dead. Rachael screamed and Armandus stared for a moment, before he jumped into the ship after Rachael, leaping into the control suite and closing the hatch behind him. Rachael sobbed as she heard the whir of the plasma drives starting up, before the ship shot forward, small arms fire bouncing off its shields as it shot into space.

Euban saw Rachael's face one last time before he vanished, dissolving back into the emptiness of the AI world. Roads of coding appeared before his troubled brain, and he felt his conscience clear somewhat. Armandus would take care of them. Euban then set to the task at hand: Eliminating the Cry Wolf's primary subsystem routines. That would shut down the Armada long enough for the Dropship containing the Professor, Rachael, and Armandus' soldier's to escape from the Armada and slip into hyperspace. Euban closed his eyes and concentrated, peeling away layer after layer of subscription routines until he reached the brain of Cry Wolf's primary subsystem. Floating into the vast space that was Cry Wolf's "skull", Euban fell slowly until he reached what would be an Aeber's cerebral cortex. Reaching to his side belt, Euban drew his plasma sword, slashing the nerve cable loose that controlled subsystem routines. Sirens blared and Euban was once again standing on the galaxy that was the entire Cry Wolf system, his mission accomplished. He sheathed his sword, and was just about to turn and head back to reach the Dropship before he noticed a blue streak at the edge of his vision. Turning, he drew his plasma rifle as the streak came closer, and he cursed as he realized it was Cry Wolf.

"I can't believe you," Cry Wolf shrieked, his voice quaking with rage, "You dare defy the God Machine that is the Aeber Armed Forces? Unspeakable! Unforgivable!" Euban crouched into a battle position as a harness appeared from nowhere, latching onto the Cry Wolf's body. Two computerized Hellguns whirred to life, one on each side of the Cry Wolf's harness, their five barrels revolving as the power belts were attached to the cores on the back of the harness, powering their weapons as they whirred loudly, preparing to fire. "Infidel!" Cry Wolf shrieked, his single eye narrowing, "We shall see who the better intelligence is now! Die!" Euban dived instinctively and grinned as he crouched behind a program barrier, and the blaring whir of the Hellguns' told him he'd jumped just in time. Bits of programming flew everywhere as Cry Wolf fired its anti programming weapons past Euban, and it cursed as the weapons fire pattered harmlessly off of Euban's barrier. Euban knew that, in computerized NAV combat, one shot was all it took to disrupt your data stream. This worked for and against him, for a single hit from his weapon could take Cry Wolf out in a second. But a single shot from Cry Wolf's weapons would tear Euban's program to pieces, eliminating him and his ability to disrupt Cry Wolf's subroutines. And Cry Wolf could fire his weapons for a lot longer and a lot faster. Euban risked a peek over the barrier and was met by a flurry of anti programming fire from Cry Wolf's weapons. "Give up now, Infidel," Cry Wolf said sharply, "you cannot win." Euban concentrated, splitting his own subroutines into two: One brain to stand as a decoy, and the other to fire, which had two possible resulting risks. The first risk was that the better subroutine would get destroyed and lose all his valuable data. The other risk was that, if his second subroutine was destroyed, he might simply decompose right there, stripped of his defensive layers and open to computer viruses. But it was a risk he had to take. Euban felt his data streams split, creating yet a second Euban, armed with the same plasma rifle, with the same bright yellow eyes. There was no difference between the two data streams. Euban I nodded to Euban II, and as though they had planned it, they acted. Euban felt one part of him stand, raising his weapon. The other half rolled, raising his own weapon and firing. Cry Wolf floated there, slowly tracking, his weapon targeting systems confused. Euban watched with hopeful pleas echoing in his eyes as the bolt flew towards Cry Wolf. The second half of him, realizing the shot was fired, ducked down, just before a stream of anti-programming bolts flew towards him, scoring the protective barrier Euban had raised. Finally, after what seemed like a millennia to his super adaptive memory core, the plasma bolt struck, washing over Cry Wolf's defensive subroutines. Cry Wolf screamed in pain as the battle harness attached to his body melted away, leaving only his basic subroutines online and alive. Euban felt his second person acknowledge this and return, his body feeling whole once again, the cool feeling entering his body as his subroutines returned to normal. Euban looked up as Cry Wolf shivered in the cold of the Aeber NAV database, and he smiled.

Stupid fucking program.

Euban felt a ping rise on his com and queued it. Another part of his subroutines slipped away, intent on inspecting the source of the ping while the other parts identified and paralyzed various part of the Cry Wolf's main subsystem routines. The Inspector part of Euban slipped away. Euban Inspector saw viewscreens appear before him, and he watched from the landing bay camera's as the heavy Specter tank blasted Archimedes to pieces. He watched as Armandus threw Rachael into the Dropship, which took off, flying out into space before disappearing within a hyperspace tunnel. The Inspector subroutine returned to the original Euban, informing him of what happened in less than a nanosecond. The original Euban acknowledged this and split himself into various programs, all designed to do what he did best: Cause mayhem and chaos within the enemy lines. The Euban Programs immediately began blasting every one of Cry Wolf's subroutines to pieces with their anti data weapon systems, causing the Cry Wolf's system to crash and its data to begin fighting itself, the system killing itself from the inside out. Euban suddenly heard the loud clacking sound that could mean only one thing: The Aeber Armada's Primary Defense Systems were on his trail. Euban turned just in time to see a massive creature ram into him, throwing him backwards and smashing him through thousands of data streams, and he finally stopped and skidded along the "floor", his armour of defense protocols sparking as he slid. Euban groaned and stood slowly, drawing his plasma rifle as the thousands of copies he had made swarmed around him, helping him to his feet, before turning to face the incoming enemy. Euban flipped down his targeting reticule, and a single sentence flitted across it.

TITAN RAIN/ref.MB/PriAebArmDefSys

Euban felt a trickle of silver data blood drain from his mouth, and he spat it on the floor. The army of Euban programs crouched down into a battle stance as the monster that was TITAN RAIN bore down on them, its anti-data cannons streaming fire down on them, before they all leapt into the air. Euban watched with fascination as his data protocols swarmed over the TITAN RAIN, and he gasped as his control suite came online, appearing from nowhere. So, they were buying him time. Euban reached his hands into the data gloves of his battle suite and concentrated, data streaming down his brow as he fought to control TITAN RAIN. The Aeber had some expert defense systems online, and even Euban's intense programming was hard pressed to defeat them. He read the mission counter and gasped. He had less than thirty seconds before the TITAN RAIN eliminated his programming. He had to do what he could! At T minus three seconds Euban decoded billions of data streams and redirected them to an offside account. At T minus seven seconds Euban wrote a stealth program with his battle protocols designed to deter the Aeber as they tried to repair the damage he had wreaked.

At T minus ten seconds, Euban's suite vanished, and he leapt forwards towards TITAN RAIN. He leapt upwards, and saw the machines anti data weapons charging. Euban procured a program from nowhere and leapt off it in midair, pushing off in another direction. The TITAN RAIN's weapons discharged harmlessly into thin air, and Euban raised his plasma rifle. If only he could blast its main data cortex. But where was it? And then, Euban saw it, glowing bright blue amidst the bundle of wiring and metal plating that covered the back of TITAN RAIN's brain. Euban built another program and leapt off of it, jumping from it to cover the distance. He landed with a loud _crunch_ on the defense system's back, and it roared in fury as Euban reached down, wrapping his fingers around the TITAN RAIN's nexus interface. Grasping the nexus in his slender fingers, Euban let his programming flow, his entire conscience flooding the defense program and wiping it clean, erasing, destroying, eliminating! Euban felt his conscience blank out, and the blue orb that was TITAN RAIN's data cortex vanished, exploding in a hailstorm of data. The system crashed; a domino affect. Data plummeted, erasing itself in its contemptuous desire to save its subroutines, which, in turn, were eliminated as the Aeber Defense Subroutines fought back against the invisible invader attacking Cry Wolf's systems.

Then, with a flash, and a blast of data, the core went black as the Cry Wolf system self destructed.

**Epilogue**

Rachael awoke with a sob and looked up. Sweat beaded on her brow as she looked wildly around, looking for anything that could be taken as a sign that she was still sane. Rachael tried to stand and felt something holding her down, and she looked around. She was sitting, locked in one of the safety harnesses of Archimedes' Dropship. Remembering what had happened the last time she had been in a Dropship, Rachael panicked. She remembered the fire, the noise, and most of all…

"Euban," she whispered, whimpering as she pushed against the harness, which, sensing her panic, lifted, warning her quietly about the lack of gravity. Rachael floated from the seat and onto the ceiling, and she pushed off, towards the door separating the cockpit from the main cabin. The door swung aside as she neared it, and she climbed through the portal. Armandus was slumped over the control suite, and Rachael could see the blackness of space dotted with stars. Rachael looked down at the controls and noticed words scrolling across the screen.

DESTINATION REACHED DESTINATION REACHED

Rachael grabbed the edge of Armandus' chair and pulled herself so she was standing next to the seat, pushing against the floor and holding herself down in the chair. Destination reached? What destination? Rachael turned and tapped Armandus' shoulder, and he snapped awake.

"What?" he murmured, looking around dizzily, "What is it Rachael?" Rachael looked at him strangely.

"How do you know my name?" she asked him.

"I'm part Euban, remember? Most of my Aeber DNA came from him," Armandus' noticed the blinking screen and looked down, "We're here," he told her.

"Where?" Rachael asked. Armandus gave her the smallest of smiles and grabbed the controls on his suite, rolling the ship to starboard. Rachael gasped and smiled as the large green and blue orb that was earth met her eyes. It floated slowly in space, and Rachael could pick out the large space stations revolving around its being. Armandus typed something in the ships computer and grabbed the control stick.

"Strap in. We're going to rendezvous with Human officials on the dark side of the planet to avoid any unwanted attention. Rachael nodded, pushing herself into the back and strapping herself into one of the seats. When she was locked in Armandus accelerated the ship, flying at speeds exceeding three hundred kilometers an hour, blasting through space towards the dark side of the planet. After about thirty minutes, Rachael could just barely see the shadowy night side of the earth, creeping over the slowly spinning orb towards them. Soon, the darkness became more obvious, and Rachael suddenly noticed a small station appearing in her vision. Suddenly, a voice cackled over the com.

"Unidentified aircraft this is Military Post New Wainright. Please identify yourself." Armandus pushed a few buttons and killed power to the engines.

"New Wainright this is Aeber commander Armandus. Bringing the Human Rachael back home." There was static for a moment, then the voice returned.

"Roger Armandus. Please shut down all unnecessary power; an escort ship is coming to meet you." Armandus toggled the "acknowledged" button and killed all of the lights, everything but there life support systems. Rachael felt the cold from the space around them pressing through the ships metal walls, like a jet ascending from a warm place, like Florida or Hawaii. She shivered and curled her arms to her chest, and as she breathed, she noticed a small puff cloud fill the space in front of her face with tiny ice crystals. After several minutes, Rachael was downright freezing, and she felt her seat heat up to compensate for her drop in body heat. Rachael looked past Armandus and noticed faint clouds of vapor coming from his mouth too. He was watching something. Rachael pushed off the seat harness and pushed off, floating towards Armandus, who turned as she approached.

"What is it?" Rachael whispered. Armandus raised one slender finger and pointed to a small, dark green dot flying towards them. Rachael narrowed her eyes, muttering, "zoom it in." Armandus pressed a few buttons on his control suite and the HUD in front of them zoomed in on the target, following its trajectory, and Rachael recognized it as a Hammerhead dropship. As the ship neared, the zoom switched off, and Rachael noticed its velocity slow until it was right above their Dropship. There was a series of loud clanks, a whirring sound, and the hatch popped open, and Rachael saw the first humans she had seen in months. They drifted through the hatch, four of them, two men and two women, all of them dressed in the grey and white combat fatigues, carrying heavy pistols and Space Navy caps. As their boots landed on the cold Dropship floor, they looked around, observing the strange craft. Armandus' chair whirred and turned to face the Humans, and he stood. Rachael noticed that, despite their being no gravity, Armandus' boots were firmly planted on the ground. He took Rachael shoulders and picked her effortlessly off the floor, setting her down on the floor next to him.

"Here she is," he murmured, "she is yours. Take good care of her." Rachael turned and stared into Armandus' eyes. For a mere second, she felt lost, as she had before, in Euban's eyes. However, the hand of another human fell on her shoulder.

"Ms. Robert. Please come with us." Rachael turned and found herself staring into the brown eyes of a man, maybe thirty, with short brown hair. He holstered his pistol and helped Rachael towards the connection hatch, pushing her through. Rachael felt suspended between two universes as she floated through to the human ship, from the exotic, beautiful craftsmanship of the Aeber to the useful and simple human ship. The two women followed her, after them, Armandus, and then the men. Rachael noticed their fingers twitched towards their pistols as Armandus towered above them, bending over slightly as his head grazed the ceiling. Grabbing a side rail, he motioned to the soldiers. One of them walked over to the hatch and sealed it, and Rachael heard the loud sucking noise as the oxygen within the transfer compartment dissipated. Rachael turned to Armandus.

"What of your Dropship?" she asked him. He turned and looked at her with those piercing eyes.

"It has a predetermined course back to the Aeber Armada's coordinates," he told her. "More than likely they'll blast it apart on sight." Rachael nodded, feeling her body rise slightly from its seat as the Hammerhead accelerated, flying towards the New Wainright space station. When they arrived, Armandus helped Rachael from the ship. Almost immediately a hundred barrels from assault rifles were pointing at Armandus, who instinctively pushed Rachael behind him. Suddenly, and old, raspy voice spoke from behind the bristling wall of barrels.

"Lower your weapons men," it called, "they're friendly." Reluctantly, the barrels lowered, revealing men dressed in full flak armour and battle fatigues. Rachael stepped out, grasping Armandus' hand as an old man in a green army uniform stepped from behind the wall of soldiers. "Welcome," he croaked, "to New Wainright. I am Admiral Greene. And you must be Rachael, and Armandus." Armandus nodded, and Rachael held out her hand. The Admiral took it and shook it hardily. "Welcome home, Ms. Robert." Rachael nodded, smiling, tears brimming at the edge of her vision.

She had never been this happy.

An hour later, Rachael's situation had not improved.

"Return her my ass!" Admiral Greene bellowed into the screen before him, which held the face of the High Prophet of Truth upon it. Greene was standing in front of the oaken cabinet under the screen, in a long rectangular conference room. The room was filled with a long rectangular table made of heartwood and had the UCA eagle emblazoned upon it. Large swivel chairs sat around the table, all of them filled except for one, Greene's, by the UCA Planetary Board. Two guards stood on either side of the door, both armed with riot shotguns and dressed in full armour, the visors of their helmets showing no sign of a face. They towered feet above the other men in the room, silent statues of war. Truth bristled, his anger palpable in the room over a thousand light years away.

"She is a Beacon of the Astronomican," he said impatiently. "She needs to be protected and we are the only ones with sufficient power to do so."

"No," Greene growled, "she will not take one step from Human occupied space, you hear me?" Truth's face bristled with anger, but it receded almost as fast as it had shown. Greene's face, however, was bright red with anger, and his grey hair was slightly messy.

"I don't think you understand the situation, earthling…" Truth began, but Greene cut him short.

"Don't you dare call me an earthling," he roared. "I am a _human_. A homo sapien, Terran, whatever the hell you want to call me, but don't use that high-and-mighty- tone with me!" Greene took a deep breath sighed, his face quivering slightly. Truth stared at him in cold enmity, his eyes glinting dangerously. Greene walked from the front of the room around to the end, some of members of the Board watching him, others eyeing the now furious looking Prophet of Truth. Truth raised a quaking finger at Greene and hissed,

"if you do not return the Beacon to Aeber possession, we will take it from you." Greene looked up, staring deadlock into Truth's eyes.

"You dare threaten me with war?" he asked the old alien before him. "After all the promises of friendship, and trust, you _dare_ threaten me with war? Sir our races have lived peacefully since our creation. But do you honestly think we will allow you to take a human and keep her locked in some god-damned room where she'll have nothing but the images conjured from her own imagination?" Greene spat furiously into the ash tray before him. "No," he said finally, sitting down and opening a drawer in his desk. "We will not return her." Greene pulled out a cigar, the smell of it making some of the members of the Board around him sniff distastefully. Greene ignored them and bent forward, and a small laser shot from the glass over the wooden table, lighting the cigar and causing smoke to rise from it. Greene puffed on it slowly, looked up at Truth one last time, then flicked a switch at his table. The screen blanked out, the last sight being a surprised looking Prophet of Truth. The other members of the Board turned to look at Greene as he sat back in his chair, staring at the wooden ceiling, where inside glass cases were pinned captured insurgent flags that meant almost nothing now; bloody swords and crossed rifles covered the ceiling. No one spoke for several seconds, and then one of the men, almost as old as Greene but without facial hair, leaned forward. His voice was smooth and glassy, and he spoke with the heart and soul of a man who had fought for many years.

"So, are we at war?" he asked Greened quietly. Greene shook his head.

"I don't know, Mr. Crawford," Greene murmured. "I just don't know."

"Do you think we can take them if they do decide to attack?" asked woman with glasses in her late forties.

"With the state we're in?" asked a man. "Definitely. We're at the top of our game here. The largest number of ships in earth history!"

"But think about how long they've been around," said another man across the table from the woman with the glasses. "They basically hand raised us. The only reason they're population has been falling is because of the Ghaul. And without those…things around, what's to stop them from attacking us?"

"But what about the most recent breakthroughs?" asked the man who had praised the earth fleet, standing up. "What about the MAC? Lance technology? Our new shipboard AI's?"

"What about them, McCarthy?" Greene said quietly. "What about all that technology? All those super duper weapons? All those mega guns and brilliant AI's that could piss themselves while reciting the Scout Oath _and_ do a million billion equations? None of that will stand against the Aeber Armada." Greene stood as McCarthy slowly sat back down again, his face red with embarrassment. Greene raised his hand and pushed a button on a small silver wand in his hand. A small assortment of blueish colored lasers began to flit in the air, sketching something. "Now," Greene began. "Much as I appreciate your faith in our fleet," Greene nodded towards McCarthy, "I will be the first to admit that we are not nearly as strong as the Aeber. In technology, in weaponry, or in numbers." Greene waved his other hand at the image that was forming in the air above the table before him, and everyone in the room recognized it as a _Lexington_ class heavy battle barge, summoned up from nowhere by Greene's personal nano-chip inserted in his skull. "This," Greene said loudly so everyone could hear him, "is a _Lexington_ class battle ship, Dragon chassis with Viper weaponry assortment, coming together to create," Greene pushed another button on the wand. "A Hierophant Battle Barge. Specifically the UCAN _Juggernaut_, built in 2018. Now, you all know the power that a Hierophant cruiser can unleash. They have been known to perform entire planetary assaults on their own, such is their firepower and ballistic load. Look here." Greene pushed the first button again, and the _Juggernaut_ shrank until it was only about a foot long. Greene pushed the second button again as well, and a large ship appeared next to the _Juggernaut_, easily three times its size. It was strangely curved and oriental looking, with odd fins growing from it. It looked more like a diving whale than a ship. However, everyone in the room, or at least almost everyone, knew the type of style that ship originated from.

"Aeber…"someone whispered. Greene nodded.

"Yes, Aeber," he replied. "Now, many of you may be thinking that this is nothing but the equivalent of one of our planet bearers, or maybe a blown-up version of a smaller ship. I lie not to you ladies and gentlemen when I say that this is the _smallest_ ship that the Aeber use in their fleet. The largest we have been permitted to see exceeds the size of earth itself." Greene was silent for a moment as he allowed this fact to sink in, the men in the room looking around at each other in shock or staring at the human ship dwarfed by the Aeber craft. Greene ran his hand over the holographic displays and they vanished, vanishing in a tremble of lasers. Greene pushed a large red button on the wand and large glass tablets rose from the table in front of everyone in the room. A series of graphs, tables, and calculations appeared on the glass screens, and the numbers were grimly low.

"This," Greene continued, "is the calculated length of the war, depending on ammunition stores, military power…and Aeber numbers." Greene pushed the red button a second time and the graphs and tables vanished, replaced by a series of calculations, ending in one terribly high number. "This," Greene began again, "are the calculated number of humans KIA's that will result from our war with the Aeber. Ladies and gentlemen, if we go to war with the Aeber, there might not be a war." Greene pulled the cigar from his mouth and stuffed it in the ash tray as the members of the Board stared horrified at the number before them, "it'll be a fucking _extermination_!" Greene sat back down as the small glass screens receded into the table, and he meshed his fingers together. However, he wasn't finished.

"Now, the Aeber," he muttered, "think that they'll be safe if they just take Rachael Robert and keep her for all her never ending life in some sort of chamber or cell to live out her never ending life. Now I, for one, gentlemen, do not agree with this. Not at all. And I do not think-" suddenly one of the men rose to their feet, their face red with anger.

"And what is your solution, Greene?" he asked the general, who was sitting patiently at this interruption. "That we just want to risk billions of lives so that one girl can live in peace? What happens when the Aeber decide that they've had enough of our puny little race and blow us sky high? Why not we just return Rachael and let this blow over and save the human race?" Greene was silent, and the man who had spoken simply stood there, breathing heavily. Finally, Greene stood, leaning over the desk and putting his fists on the oaken table.

"Why do I resist?" he asked so quietly that people had to bend in to hear him. "Why do I fight the Aeber instead of returning a single girl? What would you do, Meyers, if that girl was your daughter? What about you?" he asked, pointing to a man very near him. The man said nothing, just sat back and stared at his hands. "You?" Greene asked an older women, who nodded to Greene. "You see, Meyers," Greene said, straightening up and facing Meyers. There is something that we as humans have upheld for generations. It's called _honor_. Humanity. Integrity. This girl, if we hand her over, will stay locked in a room smaller than this one, for all eternity, with nothing but mirages and ghosts to keep her company. Now, how would you feel if that girl was you?" Meyers said nothing, and Greene raised an eyebrow. Meyers stuttered for a moment, and then sat down, bright red with anger. As Greene began t sit back down into his chair, however, Meyers muttered,

"You still didn't answer me," and Greene looked up. "About your solution. What is your answer to defeating the Aeber?" Greene grinned slightly.

"Now," he murmured very quietly, "this is where the good news is." He queued a microphone on his desk and spoke into it, "Ms. Lila, please send Commander Armandus to the conference room."

"Yes general," a female voice replied, and General Greene sat down, twirling slightly in his chair. They waited for several seconds, before Meyers sat forward.

"Your answer, General?" he asked. Greene waved a finger.

"Just wait." He said quietly. They waited for several more seconds, and Meyers sat back impatiently. McCarthy finally sat forward.

"If this is some sort of-" McCarthy was cut short as the door into the conference room opened. All of the Board members except Greene leapt from their chairs, scrambling to the back of the room. The two guards swiveled around and backed up, pumping their shotguns seconds before they were torn from their hands. Greene turned and smiled however, at the three humanoids that walked in the room.

It was a trio of Aeber, the tops of their armoured heads grazing the ceiling, their yellow eyes scanning the room and taking in the humans that were desperately scrambling away from them. Their chests moved slowly up and down, their mouths closed, the spines on their backs bent downwards in a relaxed position. Greene stepped forward as the foremost Aeber bowed deeply, before clutching Greene's hand in his own and shaking it.

"Welcome, Armandus." Greene murmured. Armandus nodded slowly in reply, and the Board members slowly sank back into their seats, their breathing more relaxed. Greene turned towards the other staff and placed his hands behind his back.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he called loudly. "I give you my solution. My weapon in this war we will start. Our angels in the fight against the hell that will be brought to our doorstep." All the members of the Board stared at Armandus in astonishment, and didn't say a word. Suddenly, the voice of the secretary filled the room.

"Sir," it called, "it's the Aeber. They've entered the Eridanis system…and we just lost contact with Station Greenland in the Alpha Centauri." Greene thanked her, silently taking in this news as the rest of the Board did as well. Finally, Greene looked up, nodding to Armandus and turning back to the Board.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said darkly. "It has begun. We are at war."

**Part Two: Shattered Horizons**

**Prologue**

In the time before time, the Angels came to us. They protected us from the Daemons that stalk our world, and helped us defend ourselves from the hellions of the Underworld. When they left, we knew how to fight, knew how to build, and built ourselves a vast empire that stretched beyond the stars, all from what the Angels had taught us. But then, long ago, a girl by the name of Rachael was chosen to go into Heaven, the most holy of places of which few have gone, and from which none have returned. But Rachael, despite all protests against her, wanted to stay on earth with her people. The Angels were angry, for they had put much time and preparation into Rachael's predetermined stay among them in Heaven. However, knowing Human's arrogance and foolishness, they pleaded with her for her to change her mind and join them, but still, she refused. Enraged, the Angels punished us, and a dark cloud materialized over the five great Realms that stretched for leagues in every direction. And suddenly, the sky split. Destruction was hurled upon us in a great rain of fire, and although most of us pleaded for forgiveness, many men, in their arrogance, fought against the Angels, and for this they, the most holy of all beings, abandoned us, leaving us to the hellions and Daemons that had hidden in the shadows for eons, biding their time and awaiting their chance. Now, however, every few decades the Angels return, raiding our villages and taking a few chosen humans to the Dead City, wherein the Angels purge the souls of those lucky enough for forgiveness.

**Chapter One: Broken Sky**

**Terran year 2204, March 7TH. **One hundred and seventy four years after primary invasion/refPriInvAeb/unloggeddatashard

Logan's eyes fluttered open. Where was he? He sat up, noticing dimly that his brain was only partially working. He stood up, throwing the sheets from his bed and walking over to the small table in the corner of his tent. Grabbing the small bowl of water from it he threw it in his face, feeling the cold water shock his numb brain back to life. Logan pushed the shoulder length locks of hair out of his eyes, walking over to yet another corner of his tent and grabbing a black shirt, stuffing it over his grey jeans. Grabbing his belt, he snapped it on; making sure his God-weapon was fully loaded. Logan proceeded over to the door of his tent, sitting down on the small mat of animal skin and grabbing his boots; black, ancient things given to him as a prize for rescuing the tribe leaders' daughter, Kyra, from a Hellspawn. However, the leather ensured they were better than any other footwear a warrior could want. Logan finally stood and sighed, checking to make sure his knife was secured in its sheath, before he pushed open the tent flap. Logan peered out and gasped.

The usual, desert-like landscape he was used to was gone; instead he was standing in the ruins of some great village, with huts of metal towering into the air. Logan pushed aside the tent flap farther and stepped out onto…was it? Logan jumped up and down, stomping slightly. The ground here was hard, and grey; not sandy and brown. Logan looked up and spotted something, like a red horse with a large hole in the front and smaller holes on the side, and two large yellow eyes resting in front. However, this horse seemed much too wide to ride. Logan walked up to the red horse and noticed a handle on its side. He grabbed the handle and pulled, and to his alarm the red horse began to flash its eyes and shriek, a blaring scream that made Logan fall over and yank out his God-weapon, his own scream meshing with that of the beast. He fired it in panic, sparks flying as the weapon fired at the red horse's hide. Logan could see small dents appearing in the creatures' skin as he fired his weapon, but it did not deter the red horse, which screamed on. After a minute or so however, the red horse was silent, and its eyes ceased to flash. Logan stood and walked over, gaping at the dents his God-weapon had made. No animal he knew of could take hits from a God-weapon like that and not _die_. Logan stuck his fingers in one of the dents, feeling cold, hard surface touch his skin. Logan suddenly felt a presence and turned, raising his God-weapon. But it was a human. Stepping forward, Logan noticed it was a woman, with flowing brown hair, standing with her back to him. As Logan came closer, the figure turned, and Logan realized it was Kyra. Smiling, Logan put away his weapon, but suddenly, Kyra murmured something.

"What?" Logan asked. Kyra smiled broadly.

"Beware the Dead City." Logan looked perplexed.

"Is that where I am?" Kyra nodded, and suddenly she turned, a look of sudden sadness crossing her features, before she vanished, walking into the arms of a figure made of the purest light. "Kyra, wait!" Logan yelled, but it was too late. With a flash of light and a piercing scream, the world erupted into fire and noise…

…Logan sat up with a yell, his knife drawn. His head jerked around, his hair flying as he searched his room, his enhanced senses searching, seeking an enemy to strike. But there was nothing here except the shadows and the dim film of light coming under his tent flap. Logan felt his breathing slow, his heart beat returning to normal as he realized it had been a dream. The beast inside him returned into hibernation. Logan threw off the animal skin blanket and put his feet over the bed, running his hand through his hair. He had been having that nightmare for years, ever since he had been bitten by that Hellspawn as a child.

Ever since he had been given the Gift.

Logan heard laughing and chatting outside and let these thoughts leave him, and he threw on his shirt, grabbing his belt, God-weapon, and tying his boots on, returning the knife to its sheath on the side of his right boot. Logan flung open his tent flap and felt his eyes burn for a moment against the brightness of the sun. Stepping from the tent, the sun vanished behind the huge pile of brush and wood. Logan smiled. He had almost forgotten about the tribal dance, and the Hunt! Logan cursed and returned to his tent and grabbed his longbow and a quiver of arrows, hurrying to gather his things. He was late. Logan then gathered the essentials he would need for the hunt; extra food, water, and fire tools. Logan stuffed all this in a bag, threw it over his shoulders, and continued walking over to his friend Roji's tent. He happened to look up, seeing the bright blue sky and the great red gashes flowing through it. The sky had been like that ever since Logan had been born, and its existence was mentioned in legends dating back hundreds of years. Logan finally saw Roji's tent after several minutes, and he jogged the rest of the way. Throwing open the tent flap, Logan yelled, "Get up sleepy head!" He smiled as he heard Roji curse himself awake and went over, yanking the sheets from Roji's bed. Roji sat up and blinked, punching Logan's stomach in his sleepiness, but his fist rebounded harmlessly from steely abdominal muscles Logan had gotten from years of personal fitness. Roji finally stood up as Logan tossed him his pants and shirt.

"Why so fucking early?" he asked Logan, and Logan grinned.

"Got to get up bright and early," he replied, gathering some things and throwing them into a bag for Roji. "We've got the Hunt today, remember? We're already late. Come on." Roji stretched and threw on his clothes, slipping his feet into the crude shoes he had made and throwing his own bag over his shoulder. Logan handed him his bow, and together the two men hurried over to where the horses were kept. On the way Logan turned back to make sure Roji was following him and felt himself run headlong into something. Grunting he fell, tripping and falling right on top of a young girl with long blonde hair. Kyra.

"Oh, sorry," Logan said quickly, standing up and pulling Kyra to her feet, "did I hurt you?" Kyra shook her head.

"It's okay, I'm fine. I wasn't carrying anything; you're lucky. Are you going to the Hunt?" Logan nodded, and Kyra grinned. "They've left," she told him, "headed out about five minutes ago." Logan cursed and apologized again, running towards the paddocks with Roji right on his heels. When they got there they threw their saddles onto their horses, buckling them on hastily before leaping into the saddles and taking off at full gallop, towards the mountains. Logan could see a dust cloud about three miles ahead and kicked his horse into a faster run, and the creature galloped as fast as it could, its brown mane flowing with the wind, along with Logan's hair. Logan pressed his body against the horse and looked back at Roji. Roji's very short blonde hair was already dirty, but he had his goggles over his face. Logan did likewise as the dust cloud from the other hunters' horses grew nearer, and soon, Logan found himself surrounded by the other men of the village, most of whom weren't exactly his friends, except one.

"We had to leave without you," yelled a man with a shaved head and black tattoos swirling all over it. "We thought you'd miss it completely this time."

"Thanks Adrian," Logan yelled back, "we appreciate you waiting for us." And they sped on, dust flying as they went nearer and nearer towards the mountains. It was another fifteen minutes before they finally reached the base of the large dust covered mountains. Beyond them, several kilometers away, lay the outlying rim of the Realm of Secrets where no one had returned from. And at the heart of the Realm of Secrets lay the Dead City. Logan shivered. Stopping before a large cave, which gaped like an open mouth before the harsh desert, each man dismounted, stringing their bows and wrapping sections of cloth over their mouths to protect themselves from the noxious gases that came wafting from the cave. There was suddenly a loud snorting sound and several of the men jumped, fitting arrows to their bows. Logan did likewise, although he wasn't doing it in fright. He was ready. A sound of steady, heavy breathing was coming from the cave, which suddenly seemed much larger than it had earlier. Logan kept his eyes on the cave, slowly drawing back his bowstring, the arrow lodged firmly upon it. The sound of breathing grew louder, along with massive footsteps that echoed from the cave. The noxious smell increased dramatically, and Logan drew back the bowstring further. Suddenly, there was a great roar, and Logan cursed; he'd forgotten to add the powder to his weapon. Logan let the bowstring go slack and pulled a large bottle from his belt which was full of green powder; anti-Hellspawn powder. Sprinkling some of the stuff onto the arrowhead, Logan quickly capped and then pocketed the bottle as a gigantic monster came charging from the tunnel. It stood on two legs, easily six meters tall, with a great, black hide cracked with orange and red fire. It had two eyes that blazed like fire and a pair of curling horns that curled alongside its skull. Its arms were hugely muscular and ended in razor sharp talons, and it had a large tail ending in a barb. The massive Hellspawn roared and grabbed a section of rock, leaning its head back. Logan seized his chance and drew back his bow, and then released his arrow. The bowstring twanged and the arrow flew straight and true, slamming into the creature's unprotected neck and bursting into bright green flame. Other arrows flew after this, hitting the Hellspawn and also bursting into flames. The Hellspawn's head suddenly jerked forward, its jaw distended impossibly wide. For a split second Logan thought it would fall over dead, but suddenly a high pitched scream split the air, and fire leapt from the Hellspawn's mouth, spraying several men with a firestorm of destruction. They screamed and ran about, flailing helplessly as the flames engulfed them. Then, with a loud roar, the Hellspawn charged into the pack of men, lashing about with its tail and slashing with its claws. Several men yelled as the tail connected with them, throwing them backwards. Logan drew another arrow and sprinkled it with powder, waiting. He knew what he'd have to do. The Hellspawn opened its mouth again, turning its head, and stared straight at him. For a second, neither of them moved. Man and beast stared at each other, eye to eye. And Logan did not blink, did not falter. The Daemon seemed to be connecting with him, searching for something primal that only it could find, but only Logan knew existed. Logan released his arrow. The Hellspawn's mouth widened as it prepared to breathe fire. The arrow flew inside the creature's mouth just as it inhaled to release its flame, and an explosion of green fire split the air like a torch, billowing from the Hellspawn's throat in an explosion of blood and green fire. The creature's body swayed for a moment, and then it toppled forward, spraying blood and sand flying into the air like a red sandstorm. The men cheered and Logan lowered his bow with a grin on his face. As always, he was the best.

As always…

The men returned that afternoon with one of the largest carriages of meat in village history. Logan kept himself in the shadows of the celebration, trying to avoid the hundreds of people congratulating him for his great hunting skills. But he couldn't avoid them for long, as Roji told everyone who had gotten the Hellspawn. He managed to turn a two-minute story into over an hour long tale that included Logan going toe to toe with the Hellspawn armed with nothing but his knife. Logan had simply grinned and gone back to his tent, dropping off his things before going down to the small river about a mile from the village. Here, Logan removed his clothes and bathed himself, taking care to wash his hair without unbraiding it from the tiny strings it was in. When he got back, an old woman, an elder of the village, approached him, one that made the beast inside him twitch with happiness.

"Yeh want yer beads er what?" she asked him pointedly, holding a long string of beads in her hand.

"Hello Mira," Logan said, grinning, "Yes, I would like my beads. In fact, I was going to go straight to your hut after I had dropped off my things." Mira squinted at him, checking for lies in his dark eyes, before she huffed, turning and leaning heavily on her walking stick. Logan followed her with a grin, walking slowly behind the hobbling old woman as she led him to her hut. Mira had given Logan each and every string of his warrior and hunting beads, and Logan's head had begun to feel like an anvil as the large amounts of beads he received had begun to weigh him down over the years. Logan had managed to ignore this however, and only gained increased neck strength from the hair beads. However, Logan was forever in debt to Mira because of what she had done to save him. Years ago, when Logan had been fifteen, he had been bitten by a hatchling Hellspawn. Logan had stumbled into Mira's tent, dying and infected, and Mira had nursed him back to health.

She had also taught him to control his Gift.

Logan dropped his things on the floor and sat in a small chair, and Mira scuffled around behind him, grabbing a string of his hair.

"So I hear yer went toe ter toe with de Hellspawn," she began to unbraid the small string of hair. "Impressive, even fer you. Didn't get bit again did yer?" Logan frowned.

"You know I don't like to talk about that. Roji exaggerated," he told her. She nodded and _ah_ed quietly, before she yanked softly on the string of hair. Logan cursed and reached up to his head. "Okay, Roji exaggerated _a lot_." Mira smiled and began to slip the first beads onto the string of Logan's hair. After a while, she said.

"Yer know, I remember when yer fahder hunted. Brought me lots o' meat, 'e did." Logan frowned slightly.

"Why must you always compare me to my father?" he asked her.

"He was a gert man," Mira said, smacking him on the side of the head. "You should be proud ter follow in his footsteps."

"It's not following in his footsteps that's the problem," Logan replied, "I just want to blaze my own trail someday." Mira nodded and slipped the final beads onto the string of hair.

"You'll be better than 'im. Don't yer worry." She tied the hair and flicked the beads pointedly, and Logan stood, turning, towering above Mira. She placed her hands lovingly on his chest, patting him softly. "Just make sure yer don't leave yer wife to go chasin' after Angels, iffen yer gets a wife." Logan nodded and hugged Mira, before reaching down and grabbing his things. Mira waved him out of the tent, and Logan went back to his own, once again passing the now mountainous pile of wood for the bonfire and dance later that night. Logan dropped off his things and plopped onto bed, leaning back, thinking about his father. Would the phantom memory of his old man ever leave him? Would the nightmare of the hell he had endured ever leave him alone? His Gift had made him stronger, better. Every girl he had met had loved him. He had strength unmatched by anyone in the clan, and he knew precisely the exact moment to fire, to attack, to strike.

And Logan didn't know it, but his Gift is what would save him.

Logan didn't understand how time could fly so fast, but soon darkness had fallen, and Logan found himself walking to the bonfire with Roji and Adrian. Women waved and giggled as Logan passed, and Logan returned their gestures with slight nods or a wave. He wasn't looking for any of these women. The person he wanted to see most was Kyra. As they arrived at the bonfire, Logan saw several men pouring large portions of black powder onto the fire. Then, the chief stepped forward. Chief Montag was old and going fat, with a large belly that had once only been in competitive size with his other muscles. Montag had once been a great warrior, a fighter of both Angels and Daemons alike. His deeds were famous among many tribes besides theirs, and his respect rivaled those of the Tribe Highborn himself. Raising his hands into the air, Montag called for silence. The chattering slowly died down to whispers, and then to silence. Montag smiled.

"Tonight," he began, "we celebrate the coming of another year, another year of survival for our clan. With the lighting of this fire, let the dancing begin until dinner, and then, after dinner, let it continue until the sun rises!" Montag's words were met with cheers from the audience, mostly young men about Logan's age. Montag had always let the young people dance, as most other members of the clan were either too old to dance or just didn't care to. Montag pulled a small silver lighter from his pocket and lit a small bottle of gasoline, tossing it onto the fire. Instantly with a huge flare and a great bang the black powder erupted, igniting the wood and lighting it instantly. Fire danced towards the sky, sparks flying like a swarm of fireflies, and Logan cheered along with the other men of the tribe. Then with the loud warrior cry of their tribe, over a hundred fists reached towards the sky, roaring their defiance. As the music struck up, people began to move, dancing front to back, male to female, a wonderful form of passion. Logan suddenly felt someone grab his hand and turned. He briefly caught Kyra's face in the crowd, smiling, before she pulled on his arm, pulling him into the center, nearest the bonfire. The speakers blasted techno music into the night, and Kyra pressed the back of her body tightly against Logan's front, grabbing his hands and placing them on her waist, before she began to move. Logan hesitated for a moment, waiting for the beat, then began to move too. They flowed together, water and water, fire and fire, grinding to the music of a thousand machines. Logan felt the beast inside him roar in triumph, and he smiled mischievously, grabbing onto Kyra tighter. He felt her smile too, and she reached up, running her hand down the side of his face and down onto her chest, before placing both of her hands on top of Logan's. Logan felt his instinct kick in, his Gift. Logan struggled; he had to control it. Colors inverted in his vision; black was now white, white was now black. Everything was different and Logan tried to shake off the effects of the beast inside. Why did it have to arise now? Logan could sense Kyra's heat, the heat inside of her caused by their movement, that wonderful sensation that overflows the human body when pleasure reaches its climax. Logan stared into the sky and his mouth opened wide as he screamed silently at the sky, roaring in triumph. He knew what would happen next, but he did nothing to control it. His eyes began to glow slightly, blue with a tinge of red. Logan could see Kyra's body outlined beautifully in a red aura of heat, fiery heat pulsing from within her soul. Logan once again felt Kyra's hand run across his sweaty face, leaving great burns of heat across it. Logan felt the monster within him take control, and he cursed to himself. He couldn't stop it now; it was all instinct for him. Logan felt himself pull Kyra closer, her body pressed as hard as she could against him. She reached down, grabbing his hands and pulling them closer to the inside of her thighs. Logan could feel the heat of the fire and the heat of their bodies competing against each other, and he suddenly felt the beast inside him leave, satisfied with itself at what it had done. Logan felt Kyra's movements slow slightly; she was tired already. Logan grinned.

Perhaps they'd been dancing too hard.

Suddenly, Logan sensed something. He looked around, slowing down dancing as he felt the air. What was going on? He could sense something but…what was it? Logan looked up as a soft roaring sound began flying towards them, growing louder and louder. People stopped dancing as two large, black jets streaked over the sky, followed by two ships, white and pure as Heaven itself, like bats being chased by swans…

Logan froze. Those white ships were Angel craft; the yellow halos surrounding them were unmistakable. Suddenly a beam of bright blue light erupted from the nose of one of the Angelic craft, and Logan ducked instinctively as one of the black jets exploded in a ball of fire. What were those black jets doing out here? Where did they come from? Logan had surely never seen one before. The second black jet faltered for a moment and then flew upwards, twisting around to face the oncoming white craft. Bursts of twin-linked God-fire split the night, and Logan saw one of the Angelic craft lose altitude. Its halo crackled yellow, and then simply vanished, leaving nothing but the under-armour beneath it. Another string of God-fire burst from each wing of the black jet, and the halo-less Angelic craft exploded, its nose bursting in a great explosion of blue fire. The second ship, however, fired a burst of blue light from its nose, and the jet black jumped, smoke billowing from its wing. It spiraled towards earth and exploded several hundred yards away. Immediately Logan turned to Kyra.

"Stay here," he yelled over the noise of the white ship as it flew over them, "I'm gonna check that out with Roji and Adrian." Kyra nodded, then bent forward on her toes and kissed him on the lips. He stared for a moment, then pulled her in to a full kiss, the two embracing each other for several seconds, before Logan broke off, running through the crowds of people, searching.

"Logan!" Logan turned. Adrian and Roji were running towards him, both with wide-eyed looks on their faces.

"Come on, we have to check out the ship!" Logan yelled. The two nodded, and together the three ran towards the horse pens. When they got there they saw that several other men were already riding off, and Logan vaulted onto his saddle. "Let's go!" he yelled, and together the three galloped off, their horses running as fast as they could, following the other men to the wreck. It took them a few minutes to get there, but when they did, Logan was astounded. The black jet was huge, lying flat, its nose buried partway into the ground, a great furrow of earth plowed behind it, a small hillock made in front of it. Fire blazed all around the craft, causing Logan's eyes to retract, and he raised his hand to shield his eyes. Pulling a piece of cloth from his belt, he tied it around his head to guard his mouth from the smoke. Roji and Adrian did likewise, and Logan reached down, grabbing a large section of tree that had been knocked down. Snapping off the smaller branches, Logan began to sift through things with the pole. The jet itself had to be at least thirty meters long and twenty wide, with two large, square engines flowing out from under its wings. The engines still glowed red hot, and Logan struggled to walk past them, so great was the heat they still vented. Other men in the area had on long coats and were sorting through the wreck with thick gloves, searching for any trace of survivors. Logan couldn't even see any bodies. Logan suddenly heard a loud _kachunk_ noise and whirled around. The top of the jet was moving. With a whirring sound, the side of the jet slowly opened, revealing a doorway. Logan watched as a figure stumbled out, falling to the ground. Logan cursed and dropped his stick, running over to the figure and pulling it from the wreck.

"Hey, hey," Logan yelled over the sound of blazing fire, "Can you hear me?" Logan dragged the figure away from the fire and heat and into the cool sand. The figure had on some sort of large round hat on his head. Logan knocked on it with his knuckles. It was hard, with a large black shiny visor on the front. Logan watched as the figure reached up, pulling levers on the side of his neck. The helmet popped slightly, and the figure reached up, pulling it off weakly, but it could only get the helmet halfway off its head. Logan grabbed either side of the helmet and pulled, and gasped. It was a woman, with short hair and beautiful features. Her chest rose and fell raggedly as she struggled to breathe. Logan stared wide eyed, observing the woman.

"You're…you're human!" he whispered.

"No shit," the woman replied, and she coughed. Dark red arterial blood trickled from her mouth. And Logan sat her upright as other people gathered around him.

"What clan are you from?" Logan asked her. She chuckled.

"Clan? Fuck that, I'm with the god damned Air Force."

"Air force?" someone muttered behind Logan.

"Fuck?" asked another, "what does that mean?"

"Maybe it's a form of greeting in her clan…" the conversation continued on and on behind Logan, and he diverted his attention back to the woman.

"Listen, we're gonna take care of you okay?" he told her. She nodded.

"I think I may be bleeding internally, but I'm not sure." Logan nodded, putting one arm under the woman's knees, the other behind her back, and he stood up with ease. She put her arms around his shoulders and rested her head against his chest as he began the walk back to the village. " Roji," he told him as he passed, "take my horse home will you?" Roji nodded.

"No problem," he said shakily, staring at the woman in Logan's arms. Logan nodded to him, and with that began to jog back to the village. He could sense that this woman wasn't going to be alive much longer if they didn't do something. He arrived about ten minutes later; the woman's breathing had been becoming increasingly more difficult, and her grip had begun to falter. Logan passed Kyra on his way.

"Is she okay?" Kyra asked.

"I don't know," Logan told her, "I'm taking her to Mira's. She'll know what to do." Kyra nodded.

"I'll go get some herbs and towels." Logan nodded in thanks and continued towards Mira's hut. He threw aside the tent flap as Mira came bustling over.

"What happened?" she asked him as she laid the woman on the bed.

"A God-craft was shot down," Logan told her. "This woman was piloting it. She needs help," Logan closed his eyes, concentrating as empathetic pain wracked his mind. "She's in serious pain and is very extensively injured. Internal bleeding and everything…" His voice trailed off as he stared at the woman. Mira nodded, walking into a back room of her hut and coming back out with all manner of herbs and medicines. Lighting a few candles for light, she set the herbs in neat, orderly rows on the floor next to the bed.

"Go," she ordered him. "Iffen I needs yer help I'll tell yer." Logan nodded, exiting the tent and nearly running headlong into Kyra, who was carrying several extra herbs and towels.

"She's in there," Logan said, jerking his head towards the tent. "I think it's best to just drop them off quick, then leave her be." Kyra nodded, setting the herbs and towels in the tent, before she turned back to Logan, who was staring at the blazing wreck out in the desert.

"Let's go back to your tent," she whispered. Logan looked at her, and she grasped his hand, surprised to feel it quivering slightly. "It's alright," she told him, and he nodded, following her back to his tent, where they performed the sort of act that only they would enjoy that night.

And still, the craft out in the desert burned…

If it had not been for the muffling sand, the sound of the hover bikes would have already alerted the villagers below. Sand roared around the large group of shadows as they drove on. They were dressed in long black robes which whipped in the wind as it went by them. They had been ordered out here to investigate the crashing of a Human vessel…and to go on a slaving run in the nearby Human village. At the top of the cliff, the shadows stopped, dismounting, jumping the cliff and landing with soft _thumps_, deadened once again by the sand, which swirled around them from the impact. The shadows moved quickly and quietly, stopping only to observe the hulk of the shot down Human aircraft, bleeding smoke and fire into the sky. Then one of the shadows pulled out a large visor, which he fitted to points on his armour. He saw through it, took in the village below, and the smoking pile of wood that had been the Human bonfire. This was the place. Removing the visor, the figure raised one long finger and waved it towards the village, and the shadows threw their hoods up higher to better hide their faces. There was a soft whirring of stun guns being charged with freezing electricity, before the shadows moved on, careful to avoid any eyes that might be watching the desert. When the group of shadows reached the entrance to the village, they leapt over the gates, landing with loud _thumps_ on the harder sand. One of the shadows threw his arms out in both directions, and the shadows split, hurrying in different directions. The village was quiet. No sound was to be heard.

This was a bad thing.

Logan woke with a start, sitting upright. He looked around, sweat beading on his forehead. He looked down as he felt the warm touch of skin against his. Kyra was lying beside him, an arm over his lap. Her hair was undone and tousled, and she had a slight grin on her face. Logan suddenly noticed a shadow moving outside the tent, a very large shadow. As Logan looked closer, the shadow stopped outside the door, waiting. Logan had one second of dawning horror, before he grabbed Kyra, rolling them both over the bed, putting his hand over Kyra's mouth. He heard the tent flap fly open, and gasped. A pair of large, armoured feet walked into the tent, standing on their tip toes, walking perfectly balanced, with long black robes sweeping the floor. Logan and Kyra lay perfectly still. _Go away_, Logan thought. _Just go…_ The feet turned, as if their owner was searching the room. Logan grabbed one of the skins on the floor as the feet turned the opposite direction, laying it over the two of them. Logan heard the creature breathing and heard the loud crunch as it blasted aside the bed with its arms. Kyra's sob was muffled to nothingness by Logan's hand. He could feel the creature bending over them, waiting to pluck the skin from them…

Suddenly there was a great commotion outside, and a strange, bestial howl split the night. The nightmare above them turned, and Logan heard it run from the tent. Grabbing his belt, Logan slipped it on, tying his boots under the skin, before he grabbed his knife, slicing a hole in the side of the tent. Keeping hold of Kyra, Logan rolled them both from the tent, and they entered a world of chaos and fire. The village was burning. People were running back and forth, and Logan saw someone running towards them, looking over its shoulder in horror as if it was being chased by something. Logan and Kyra watched with horrified fascination as a bolt of blue light fired from a patch of darkness, and the man fell over with a grunt, his body limp. Logan felt Kyra clutch his arm in fright, and he froze as a massive figure emerged from the shadows. Dark blue armour shone from under a long, black cloak, with the hood of the cloak up to hide the creatures' face. Logan watched as the massive creature walked over to the limp body, and it knelt down, attaching a small device to the man's body. The device beeped and a small mechanical eye curled open, shining an orange beam of light into the dark sky. The figure stood up slowly, before turning to Logan and Kyra. Kyra whimpered and Logan stared at the thing in horror. It raised its head slightly, and Logan could see four jaw sections spread into an unmistakable grin, a pair of green, almond shaped eyes glinting in the firelight like emeralds.

It was an Angel.

Logan felt the beast inside of him roar a warning and dived, pushing Kyra over just as a beam of light shot towards them. It slammed into the sand behind them, and the Angel roared with fury. Logan stood up, pulling Kyra off the ground. "Go!" he yelled, and Kyra obeyed, and the two ran. Logan could feel his heart pumping so fast it hurt. As they rounded a corner, they ducked just in time. A beam of blue light shot from a patch of darkness and whizzed past them. Logan suddenly felt something press against his arm, cold metal meeting his skin. His God-weapon! As Logan stood he pulled the weapon from his belt, putting his finger on the trigger. A burst of energy shot from the weapon, which kicked in Logan's hands. He watched as the beam of light shot out, hitting the Angel in the chest. A look of surprise came over its face, before it collapsed in the sand. Logan couldn't tell if it was dead or alive, but he didn't care. He grabbed Kyra's hand and ran, ran out into the safety of the desert, towards the lake. But as he did, a beam of light shot from nowhere, hitting Kyra's leg. She grunted, and fell, knocked out. Logan cursed and picked Kyra up, pulling her towards the water. But more of the Angels were swarming from the ruined village, and he could carry her no further. With a soft apology, he set Kyra down, before he dived into the lake. Dark water pressed on his eyeballs and he could feel the heat of energy fire as it shot past him. Swimming down to the bottom of the lake, Logan grabbed a reed, poking the end of it just above the water. With his other hand, he grabbed a rock, slowly swimming back to the shallows until he could see the Angels. They were moving around, chatting in their odd, warbled language. Logan felt his eyes close, but he snapped them open. He looked at the shore through the rippling water. The area looked clear. Going for the surface, Logan slowly got out of the water. He heard a roaring of engines and ducked down as a white ship, larger than the other craft he had seen earlier, blared over him, heading over the mountains.

Heading towards the Dead City.

Logan shook himself somewhat dry and walked back to the village. Smoke was wafting into the sky like grey ghosts, and people walked around in shock, not believing what had just happened, others trying to extinguish fires that had leapt up during the raid. Logan walked until he reached his own tent. He could see holes and burns all over it from energy fire. He checked it; it seemed okay, not too damaged. Suddenly there was a loud coughing, and he turned to see the woman, the pilot, stumble from a dark corner. Bandages could be seen under a black tank top, which was stained red from blood. She had small bandages around her arms, and her eyes were wide like those of a wounded beast. Logan ran over to her as she hunched over. Logan helped her upright.

"Are you okay?" he asked her. She coughed, nodding slightly, before she stopped. She reached down and drew a God-weapon from a thigh holster, raising it.

"Where are the bastards?" she asked him. He looked at her strangely.

"The bastards?" he asked her.

"The Aeber!" she yelled, looking around. Logan cocked his head.

"Aeb…Aeber? What is an Aeber?" she looked at him in shock.

"The really…tall…things!" she spluttered finally.

"The Angels?" Logan asked. The pilot coughed.

"Anything but," as she turned away, Logan heard her mutter something about "non-military people don't know shit". Finally, she turned back to Logan, holstering her pistol again.

"They got away, didn't they?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Along with half of the villagers. And…" Logan suddenly remembered. "Kyra!" he moaned. He fell to his knees, clutching at his hair.

"Who?" the pilot asked.

"Kyra!" Logan roared in outrage, standing up. Not knowing what to do, he turned, punching a pole with his fist. The wood shattered, sending splinters of wood everywhere. Logan felt the beast within screaming in outrage, and he doubled over in pain as it struggled to release itself from within him. He moaned quietly in pain and struggled to stand; blinding white light was starting to film over his vision. Suddenly, he heard footsteps, and saw the form of a stout, short old woman standing before him.

"Yer alright kip," she cooed. "Calm down, yer safe. It's okay. Yer okay. Calm down now." Logan felt the rage inside him subside, and his breathing returned to normal as Mira placed her hand on his shoulder. "Calm down kip, yer alright." Logan nodded and stood, grunting as a last tiny pain flared through his chest. The pilot was staring at him in horror, and as he turned she raised her pistol towards him.

"You," she sputtered, "You're…infected!" Mira and Logan both stared at her, and Mira finally shuffled over to stand between them.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "He's infected. 'Es sick, whatever yer wanna call it. But we, our people, call it the Gift. And he's learned ter control it. And believe me, 'tis the only reason 'es servived as long as he 'as." The pilot looked unsure, and Mira reached out her hand, slowly pushing the weapon down so its barrel was angled at the ground. Mira turned back to Logan.

"What must I do, Mira?" Logan asked her. She shook her head.

"Don't yer ask me," she said. "Yeh already should know what yer must do." Logan nodded.

"Do I take her?" she nodded towards the pilot. Mira nodded firmly.

"She is the only one that'll know how to fight the Angels, and win." Logan looked up at the woman, who was still pointing her God-weapon at the ground, totally lost as to what was going on. Finally, she spoke.

"Take me where?" she asked quietly. Logan looked up.

"The Dead City," he waved a hand in the general direction of the mountains, "That is where legend says the Angels take their Chosen. That's where they'll be." The woman nodded slowly, finally holstering her God-weapon.

"We need to get some things from the wreck first," she said, jerking her head to her downed craft, which was still burning. Logan nodded.

"Follow me," he muttered. "We need things from my tent." The pilot nodded, following him down the streets. Logan was walking very fast, and finally, she called out.

"Wait," she said. Logan turned. "Much as I hate to admit it," the woman said, leaning against a pole, "with these injuries I can't walk as fast as I could before." Logan nodded, putting her arm over his shoulder and helping to support her as they walked to his tent. When they got there, he set her down gently on his bed, turning to go and get some food together. He threw some dried meat, water, and flint into a small pack, along with flares. He filled another with the same. As he closed the second pack, preparing to swing it over his shoulder, the woman spoke.

"Oh, Jesus," she muttered. "This was brand new too." Logan turned and looked; she was staring at her shirt, which was dark red now from blood. He watched her as she went to pull the shirt off, but she cursed. Logan noticed that it wouldn't go over her head without considerable pain on her part. Logan dropped the pack and went over.

"Here," he muttered, drawing his knife. He flipped his knife out of his sheath, catching it and slicing open the shirt, before sheathing the knife again in one smooth motion. The woman looked surprised, but stared as Logan pulled apart the two halves of the shirt. He cursed as he noticed the woman's bloody bandages. He went over to his home-made kit and grabbed some moss and more bandages. "Look, I hope you don't mind," he said, "but you need these replaced now. You'll have to get used to it anyways." She nodded, and he said, "Don't look at the wound." She grunted, and Logan reached behind her, undoing the bandages. Slowly, he began to unwrap them until they came off, and he threw the blood soaked bandages on the ground, trying not to notice how big the woman's breasts were.

"What's your name?" the woman asked. Logan looked up.

"Logan," he said finally. He took the moss and pressed it against the large cut in the woman's chest, located right underneath her right breast. She gasped quietly to herself and Logan grabbed her hand, pressing it against the moss. "Hold this," he told her. As he began to wrap the bandages again, he asked, "What's your name anyways?" She looked at him.

"Stephanie," she said finally. Logan nodded, and there was no more conversation as Logan wrapped the last of the bandage around her body. She grunted in thanks, and Logan grabbed a shirt from his bed, handing it to her. She slipped it on over her bandages and stood as Logan grabbed the packs, swinging one over his shoulders and holding the other. He walked over to the side of the tent, reaching for his bow, but Stephanie spoke. "Don't bother," she said, "we'll be getting weapons from my ship."

"What, that thing?" Logan asked. Stephanie nodded, standing up and flexing slightly. "Wouldn't they have burned up? I mean, the only God-weapon you have is right there."

"What? God-weapon?" Stephanie asked. Logan nodded and pointed to the weapon holstered on her thigh. "Oh this," she muttered, drawing it from her sheath, "this is called a pistol." She looked at his pistol in slight disgust. "And that thing is _old_," she told him, "I'll have to get you a new one." She holstered her pistol and sighed at the confused look on Logan's face. "The pistol you've got there is an old Mk VII Lance pistol," she told him, "It combines nuclear and plasmatic energy together to create a superheated beam of light and particle matter. This," she patted her pistol, "is a .55 caliber heavy semiautomatic pistol, called an Enforcer. It has a thirty round clip, and a large spring to absorb most of the recoil. I've got it fitted with a laser and a flashlight, but the batteries are running low."

"Wouldn't anything like that burn from the fire?" asked Logan.

"You kidding? Everything important is in a super vacuumed fireproof case designed to take a nuclear blast before it'll even _think_ of cracking."

"It thinks?" Logan asked. Stephanie sighed and walked past Logan, grabbing the pack in his hands and saying something about "primitives". Logan shrugged; she seemed better.

And she sure had strange technology. In his mind, any metal that thought couldn't be trusted.

They left the village with as little contact as possible, sticking to the dark patches. Mira had given them an ancient map over the mountains and into the city, and had also lent them two of her wigeon birds; tall, bipedal, flightless birds with yellow feathers, easily capable of carrying a human, and much faster than a horse. Putting as many supplies as they could in the wigeon saddles, with a little space left for their weapons, they rode of towards the ship first. By the time they arrived only a few small fires remained, mostly extinguished by villagers, who were all to busy off fighting the village fires to worry about some burning relic. Stephanie and Logan dismounted, and Stephanie drew a small card of some hard material from her pocket.

"Wait here," she told him. She walked up to the side of the blackened vessel, sliding the card through a box with a thin line in it. Immediately a hatch in the side hissed open, steam rising from it as two large, long boxes popped out of it, landing on their backs in the sand. Logan walked over and knelt down next to one of the boxes, staring at it and running his hand over it.

"It isn't hot," he said, "What sort of material is this?"

"Adamantium," Stephanie replied, "A fireproof heavy metal capable of taking heavy fire. They use it for our heavy suits of Relictor armour." Stephanie knelt down and slid her card through two more readers on either end of each box, and the seals popped, the lids opening on their own. Logan gasped quietly. There were several pistols like the one Stephanie had, set into black foam in the cases. Stephanie reached inside and pulled out a holster, motioning for Logan to stand, before attaching the whole holster to his thigh. She then pulled out two long, thin boxlike objects from the box, resting them in small pouches on Logan and her pistol holsters. She then pulled out her pistol.

"Alright," she began, "Now, this will be a lot to take in. You'll be taking an eight or nine hour course in about ten minutes." Logan nodded.

"I learn very fast," he told her. She grinned and nodded.

"Good. Now," she began, "unlike the energy weapon you have there, these pistols fire a solid bullet. Now this," she pushed a small red button on the side of the trigger guard, and one of the small boxes popped out, sliding into her hand, "is the magazine. This holds the bullets. Now to load the gun, you simply insert the clip," she jammed the box into the handle hard with her hand, "and pull back the top frame. But remember, you have to have your palm on this pad on the back," she indicated a small pad on the back of the handle, "Otherwise the gun will not fire. Okay?" Logan nodded, and Stephanie reached up to the top of the gun and pulled it back, and it clacked back into place satisfyingly, and Logan grabbed an extra magazine from the cases in the sand. He inserted it and pulled back the frame, and after a few times, he had it in his head. Holstering the pistol, he switched on the safety as Stephanie reached back down, pulling out a long, gray and black weapon. It had a small barrel on top of a larger one and a carrying handle that ran all along the top. Stephanie pulled a larger black box from the case and jammed it hard into the bottom of the weapon, pulling back a lever on the side. "This," she began, staring at the weapon, "Is a Mk. VII Automatic Battle Rifle. It has semi auto and automatic fire. One thing you should know though is that it only has 75 rounds in its magazine, so it's easy to run out of ammunition. I try my best to stick with semiautomatic, because even then it fires a three round burst, so you still get plenty of punch without as much kick. Now, see this?" she turned the rifle butt towards him and pointed to the handle, and Logan noticed that it was actually hollow with a 2x scope set inside its length. It also had a small screen underneath it, with the number 75 glowing green on it and a long bullet indicator underneath the number. Stephanie acknowledged that he saw this and pointed the rifle barrel back towards the sand, "You saw the scope, but the real tool is that smart counter. It counts the number of bullets you have back in the magazine." Logan nodded, and Stephanie continued as he reached down and pulled a rifle and a magazine from the case. "Now this is how you load it…" she began, but Logan simply shoved the magazine in the bottom and pulled back the lever, and the green 75 lit up on his screen. Stephanie smiled slightly, then reached into the case. "One thing you prob'ly noticed is that this thing has two barrels. That's because it doubles as two weapons. Now, these two rifles here are fitted with the standard issue eight gauge pump action shotguns, but some have grenade launchers, anyways. To switch to the shotgun, you simply flick this small switch here," she flipped a small, red switch, and the gun clicked quietly. "It has eight shells pre-loaded, so go ahead and switch," Logan nodded, flipping the switch, and his rifle clicked too. He noticed that the green number flashed and then reappeared with only eight, but this time the bullet indicator showed a cylinder with several dots spreading from it in a broad pattern. Stephanie reached down and pulled a foot or so long tube from one of the cases in the sand. "This is a clip," she told him, "Stick this in the end of the rifle, here," she pushed it into a small slot underneath the shotgun barrel, and Logan picked up one of the tubes. It was very heavy for something of its size. Stephanie then pulled out a knife in a boot sheath and handed it to Logan. "Here," she said, "replace your old knife. This one is carbon-layered so it will cut through almost anything." Logan took the knife and sheath, observed it, and then placed it on his other boot.

"I like my old knife too," he told her. She nodded, then knelt down next to one of the cases.

"Pack as much ammo as you can and put the rest on our rides," she said, nodding towards the wigeon birds, "We may need it." Logan nodded, and he put as many ammunition magazines and shotgun clips into his pack, loading the rest and a second rifle onto his wigeon saddle. He heard a rustling and looked up. Stephanie had pulled some kind of thick black vest from the case and was fitting it over her. She looked up and noticed Logan staring. "This is Mk. III flak armour. Seeing as I'm not very maneuverable to begin with, with my injury, I might as well get myself some extra protection." Logan nodded, and when Stephanie had finished putting on her armour, he helped hoist her into her saddle. Then he leapt up into his wigeon birds' saddle, and it squawked in slight protest as he landed. Then, with a click and a squeeze inwards of her feet, Stephanie's bird moved off, and Logan followed.

**Chapter Two: Merriam**

Logan did not know exactly how long they had been riding when they encountered the first ruins of the outlying Realm of Secrets. He had not been keeping really close track of how long they had been riding, but they had gone for well over a day straight. The first glimpse they got of it was when they crossed over a particularly large sand dune, and it beckoned at the bottom, a large, black wound in the sand. Grey and black ruins of shattered buildings of an unknown nature reared towards the sky, glinting slightly in the sky, stretching for miles. Logan gaped at the sheer size of it, and Stephanie, noticing his awed look, chuckled.

"This is nothing," she told him, "We've got cities that reach hundreds of feet in the air and cover the area for hundreds of miles." Logan stared at her in awe, and she turned back to the ruins, starting her bird down the dune. Logan followed Stephanie down to the base, where they dismounted from their wigeon birds and grabbed their reins, walking from soft sand to hard, glassy black ash, leading the birds along behind them. Logan began to look around, shouldering his battle rifle. He saw some sort of long, reddish brown metal rod sticking up from a pile of grey blocks that looked more solid than mud bricks. Logan kicked it lightly, and the strength of the stuff was apparent. He ran his finger over it; it felt gritty.

"What is this?" he asked Stephanie. She walked over to him.

"Concrete," she said, "this must be an older settlement. Our most recent cities are made of metal and Adamantium. More resistant and harder to destroy than this stuff," she kicked the concrete block. Logan grabbed the red-brown cylinder.

"And this?" he asked her.

"Rebar," she said, "very useful makeshift weapon. Stings like a bitch and is really thin, so it's easy to swing. Most of the time they put it in when they pour the liquid concrete to help stabilize it." Logan gaped at her, looking from her to the concrete.

"This stuff starts as a liquid?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah. Then it dries and turns solid. There are, so far, five forms of matter: Solid, liquid, gas, plasma, and lance." Logan nodded, then continued to walk around. He turned around to say something and then looked back. He noticed his wigeon bird had stepped around something. He stared at the spot in the ground and pushed on it slightly with his foot. It bounced slightly, creaking. Logan tied his bird to a small ruin, then walked over tot eh pile of concrete blocks. Grabbing a heavy one of good size, he walked over to the spot.

"What is it?" Stephanie asked him.

"Hang on," he said. He lifted the cement block above his head, before he threw it down on the spot, which cracked with a loud snap and broke inward, revealing a splintered wooden floor. Stephanie walked over as Logan pulled out his Relictor pistol, flicking on the laser and light attachment, before he lifted himself down into the hole, immediately crouching down and scanning the room with the pistol. It was clear. He holstered his pistol as Stephanie jumped down, holding two long black flashlights. Logan took his and flicked it on, shining it around. It was a large room about twenty feet high with a large table in the middle. Empty glass cases rested on the ceiling, and large swivel chairs were attached to the floor. Logan continued to walk around and heard Stephanie mutter, "Where are the lights?" He heard her rustle around for a moment, then there was a loud whirr, and fluorescent lights blared on, filling the empty room with dirty white light. The whirring ceased, and Logan flipped off his flashlight.

"Whoa," Stephanie murmured, "this must have been…a military board room."

"A what?" Logan asked. Stephanie rolled her eyes slightly and flipped off her flashlight too.

"My military organization builds huge bases on the ground, and the military board usually has a meeting room like this one where they plan where to send the next batch of soldiers to get killed." Logan cocked his head.

"Your leaders _send_ warriors to get killed?" he asked her. Stephanie waved her hand.

"Never mind, it's a…thing among army personnel," she muttered. Logan shrugged. In his opinion, sending men to get killed was about as bright as thinking metals. He looked around again as Stephanie sat down in one of the swivel chairs, and he noticed a small, wooden cabinet sitting under a large screen. Reaching down, he tried to pull open the cabinet, but it wouldn't budge. A small light was glowing red, next to the word 'locked'. Logan sneered and pulled his rifle from his back, firing a few short bursts into the cabinet. The locking mechanism sparked and then beeped, and the cabinet drawers popped open. Logan saw several maps bunched up in one, and in the other he saw the empty shapes of foam that would have held pistols. Logan pulled out the maps, and then noticed a thin, leather book in the back. Taking it out, he wiped the dirt from it. It was burnt slightly. Sitting in one of the chairs, Logan opened it. Inside plastic sheets were people, drawings on paper, drawings that were for some reason always clear and lifelike. Logan assumed that they were simply drawn by a good artist. The drawings in the first few pages were of an older man with graying hair and a cigar, dressed in a colorful blue shirt, un-tucked above a pair of shorts and sandals. He seemed to be standing in front of a magnificent waterfall, surrounded by beautiful greenery. He was standing on a bridge overlooking a beautiful jungle. Logan pulled out the picture and flipped it over. The word 'Kodak' was stamped over it, and written in nice handwriting were the words, 'Hawaii, 2019'. Logan pushed aside the questions of Hawaii and slipped the picture back in its plastic frame, flipping the large page of pictures. The pictures now showed the same man, but this time with two young women standing on either side of him, with their arms around him. Logan looked up as Stephanie pulled out one of the paper maps from the pile, spreading it over the table. He continued to look at the picture. So, this man had children. Logan closed the book and stood, tossing it onto the table. As it hit, something beeped, and Logan suddenly noticed that the table was falling. He and Stephanie stepped back as the table simply sank into the floor, replaced by a tall, thin screen easily as tall as Logan, chipped and scratched, covered in dust. Logan observed this with fascination, and then, suddenly, someone appeared in the glass. Logan stepped forward, putting his hand against the glass. The person was a man, tall, and black, dressed in a beige suit and pants with black shiny shoes. His face was young, and a short crop of black hair sat upon his head, and a pair of glasses rested on his nose. He smiled as he saw Logan, and then turned.

"Ah," the man said, "I have an audience!" Stephanie came and joined Logan.

"What is it?" asked Logan, and Stephanie shrugged.

"What am I?" asked the man, putting a hand on his chest, "if I had the capacity I would be offended," Stephanie chuckled, and Logan stepped back from the glass as the man continued, "I am an artificial intelligence program known as the Merriam Webster Artificial Intelligence Program, program identification 5473-8911-9706, but the General called me Merriam."

"The General?" Logan asked.

"Oh yes," said Merriam, "he was the person who taught me what I was not programmed with, the one who taught me what I didn't already know. You probably saw him in the photograph album you so fortunately tossed upon my activation monitor." Logan suddenly noticed the book was sitting on the floor. He picked it up, pulling out the picture of the man and his two daughters, putting it against the glass.

"This man?" he asked. Merriam smiled and nodded, then looked at the floor.

"Where is he?" asked Stephanie as Logan handed her the photo.

"Oh he is dead," Merriam said, and Logan and Stephanie both looked up, "He has been dead for well over two hundred years. He was killed in 2031 when the Aeber finally stormed this part of Terra. He fought to the last, stood right here before me with a Winchester Pump Action 387 Model 12 gauge shotgun. Managed to get off all five rounds and reload before he was finally shot down; took four of the enemy with him. Very impressive by normal human standards. I predict," the man vanished, and a series of graphs and charts appeared, "that if he had not been killed, he would have lived to easily surpass a hundred years of age." Logan looked from Merriam, who was now cleaning his glasses, to the photo. He looked at the two girls.

"What about his daughters? His children?" he asked. Merriam grinned.

"Fortunately the General forced them to leave for another part of Terra, one that I believe is still a main resistance stronghold. I believe that their chances of survival were very high, about 89.73 to be exact. My predictions calculate that they had their father's strength, and if they were not killed in a battle or raid, they would have lived to probably surpass 90 years of age."

"What about his wife?" asked Stephanie, pocketing the picture, "If he had one." Merriam frowned.

"He did. She died of breast cancer about a year before that photo was taken. Hit the General hard, but he was strong." Logan nodded, and Stephanie put the photo album back on the floor.

"What happened here?" she asked. Merriam sighed, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyebrows, before he put his glasses back on, standing before them.

"In the year 2020 General Greene, the man in the photo, defied the Aeber who were seeking something on Terra, and the Aeber declared war upon Terra."

"The Aeber?" Logan asked, confused.

"The guys that attacked your village," Stephanie said. Then, turning to Merriam she said, "Continue." Merriam cleared his throat.

"Invasion began as predicted," he said, "The Aeber began to immediately invade the most outlying planets, and the human military began to reinforce the battle fleet, the planet Terra, and the other more important planets. Next they proceeded to organize evacuation of civilians from the military and artificial planets, and small strike fleets were sent in to harass the edges of the Aeber fleet. Soon, ground invasion was being performed, and the humans procured their newest weapon…" there was suddenly a gargle of static, and Merriam flickered. Stephanie leaned forward.

"What was it?" she asked him. He stood for a moment, thinking, and then began to look at his arms and hands, as though checking for injuries. Finally, he turned back to Stephanie.

"I apologize sincerely, but that certain part has been wiped from my memory cortex according to Military Protocol ref.MB/ArmSpecWeap/protocol." Stephanie looked slightly annoyed but waved her hand.

"Continue," she told him. Merriam nodded.

"According to the data files I am allowed to show, this new weapon proved highly successful, and the Aeber invasion was halted for a further ten years before the Aeber Armada finally reached the core systems. However, the humans were forced to resort to drastic measures and evacuated all military and civilian personnel from the farthest habitable planets, loading the planets with remote-controlled nuclear mega bombs. The plan was to wait until the Aeber fleet arrived in the outer reaches of the system and detonate the nuclear devices, eradicating the fleets and creating an impassable field of warp-storm radiation. The humans also hastily built special 'warp bombs' designed to warp to the primary Aeber worlds and detonate. This would cause the Aeber to become extremely demoralized and possibly force them to withdraw. However, this plan almost failed. Instead of the sending the whole fleet to Terra, the Aeber sent a strike fleet of about fifty ships and around ten million shock troops which warped in behind the nuclear bomb line, invading before the main fleet. They destroyed many of the planets surface military bases before they relayed for the rest of the fleet. Thinking us defeated, the rest of the Aeber fleet flew in under normal power to show us how much better they were. This, however, proved to be there downfall, as the trap set previously was detonated from earth and destroyed the second half of the Aeber fleet. Days later, the report came in that nearly three fourths of the warp bombs had successfully sought out and destroyed their targets. However, instead of demoralizing the Aeber, we simply trapped them on Terra with no home to go to. This simply caused them to fight more fiercely and efficiently and also started the battle over Terra. As of now, no side holds the upper hand, and the few million Aeber stuck here are attempting to seize control of the planet and convert it to start their race anew. They constantly make raids on the human villages separated from the main body, those that have resorted to their almost primal forms of government. The Aeber take these humans as slaves to work in their factories and perform the more dangerous tasks, and since the average Aeber can live for almost four millennia, they simply whittle the humans down, patiently waiting to make their final strike and enslave the human race completely." Merriam gave a great sigh and took of his glasses again, massaging his forehead. Logan turned to Stephanie with a look of pure fascination on his face. She had the same look, a gaping staring look of total surprise. Logan, however, thought he saw a look of realization in her eyes.

"Nuclear bomb?" he asked her. She turned towards him.

"Look," she said, "I'll have to explain all this later. Once we find the rest of the Resistance, I'll be able to tell you everything. But I need to talk to Merriam now." She turned to Merriam, who was waiting patiently with his hands behind his back. "Please show us maps of where we are according to the most recent files you have of Resistance strongholds." Merriam put his chin in his hand, thinking.

"Well," he said, "unfortunately, the most recent maps I have of Resistance strongholds are about two centuries old." Stephanie waved her hands.

"That's okay," she said, "I just need to know where we are compared to…okay, try this. Show me a map of where we are now in relation to the New York ruins." Merriam smiled, and he vanished, replaced by a green map with a red dot marked 'WE ARE HERE'. Farther up in the right hand corner was a large pool of red marked 'NEW YORK RUINS' in black. Stephanie examined the map carefully, pulling out a small booklet and copying down the map, then the distance between the two points. Finally, she said, "calculate the fastest route from here to the New York ruins, avoiding as many known Aeber groups as possible." A dark red line steadily proceeded from the dot marked, 'WE ARE HERE', snaking around ruins and forests until it finally stopped at the center of the red pool that was the New York ruins. Stephanie studied this carefully, then drew the route onto the map in her notebook. Finally, she turned to Logan as Merriam materialized on the screen again. "Alright," she told him, "We're ready." Logan nodded, picking up his rifle again and preparing to walk out the door, but before he could, he heard Merriam's voice.

"Wait!" the AI called, "please, don't go yet! Take me with you!" Stephanie turned around.

"What?" she asked, "How?" We'd need Transferring Headphones that we could put your data chip into."

"I know," Merriam said, and Logan suddenly heard the last cabinet drawer slide open. Stephanie walked over and looked inside it, then reached in, pulling out two small headphones with microphones on them. She tossed one to Logan along with the battery pack, and Logan tucked the cord under his shirt, fitting the battery pack onto his belt. Placing the unit on his head, he adjusted it to fit him, feeling small needles poke into the top of his head. When Stephanie had hers on, she turned to Merriam.

"Alright," she said, "Retract and I'll transfer your data cores." Merriam nodded, and his form vanished from the glass screen. Logan saw two small discs pop from the bottom of the unit at the bottom of the case, which Stephanie pulled out, handing one to Logan. "They split the discs in twos because too many people had their brains fried by traitor AI's, so splitting their conscience insures that they cannot do that. Insert it here," she placed the disc in a small slit located in the bottom of her right headphone, and Logan copied her. He felt a cool sensation fill his conscience as Merriam's second half floated into his brain.

"Hmm," Merriam muttered, "Lots of room here. Your brain strangely resembles that of a standard high-grade military computer."

"Don't get any ideas," Logan replied, smacking the headset lightly. Merriam chuckled, and Logan heard Stephanie come up beside him.

"Let's go," she said. Logan nodded, helping her from the hole before shutting off the lights and vaulting to the surface. He looked around, suddenly feeling the cool sensation reach his eyeballs.

"That is how you got here?" Logan heard Merriam say as his eyes fell upon his wigeon bird, "Oh no, this will not do. I was sure since you were military you would have a Rhino Light Assault Vehicle. That is what my calculations were based on. Stephanie chuckled.

"You'll live," she said.

"Oh no I won't," Merriam replied sharply, and Logan heard him whisper something to himself. Finally, Merriam said, "whose head am I in?"

"Logan's," Logan muttered.

"Logan," Merriam said, "do you see that wall over there? The one in that building?" Logan turned. Sure enough, a battered wall sat, looking as though it would cave in with a slight push, revealing whatever was inside. He walked over to it through the piles of rubble as Stephanie watched. "Kick it." Logan heard Merriam say.

"What?" Logan asked, looking around in confusion.

"Kick it," Merriam said impatiently, "If I am correct, this was a military armour installation." Logan sighed hopefully, turned towards the wall, and kicked it. It hurt his foot a lot but did not budge.

"Again," Merriam said. Logan, looking slightly annoyed, kicked the wall again, and it shook, dust falling from it. Logan heard Stephanie come over, and she began to count.

"One, two three!" they both kicked, and the wall shook violently, wobbling dangerously. Both of them stepped back, looked at each other, and kicked again, as Merriam said, "Yes, that's it!" encouragingly. Finally, they kicked it a fourth time, and the wall caved, the cement crumbling like dirt before them, sending a storm of powdered cement everywhere, and Logan and Stephanie both covered their faces. When the dust cleared, Logan heard Merriam exclaiming.

"Yes, yes! I was right!" Logan looked around, noticing what Merriam was cheering about. Large, double tubed rocket launchers were lining the walls, along with crates of rocket ammo. But what really caught his eye was the thing sitting in the corner. It had four large circular feet, with giant ridges in them. It easily stood three meters high, with large silver step boards and room for four people. On the back was a large, long, four barreled God-weapon, a Chaingun, with dual side guards and swivel stance. A chain of ammunition glittered, flowing from the base of the weapon to the back of the vehicle. Logan heard Stephanie mutter, "Fuck yeah!" before she ran past him, running towards the large vehicle and running her hand across it.

"Man it has been years since I saw one this beautiful!" Logan, now with more light to see, realized what she was so excited about. The greenish metal alloy glittered in the light, along with a yellow tinted windshield. Stephanie climbed up into the great beast as Logan walked closer.

"What is it?" he asked.

"This, my friend," said Stephanie, "Is a 2175 model Rhino LAV! Look at this! Heavy Adamantium carbon-fiber armour, all-terrain tires, full shock suspension, and my favorite," she moved to the back, standing on the back of the God-weapon unit, flicking a switch. It whirred to life, and she laughed as she piloted to turn, looking every direction, swiveling happily, "is a four barreled coolant-module heavy anti-infantry assault cannon. Known as a chaingun for short." Logan stepped up and into the cool leather seats, black, noticing the steering wheel and the many gauges and meters set into the glass. "Come on," Stephanie said as Merriam chuckled into Logan's headset. She jumped down from the Rhino. "I'm gonna get our supplies. I want you to pack two rocket launchers and as much ammo as you can in the back seat. I'm gonna set the birds free, and then we are outta here!" she whooped happily as she ran out back into the sunlight, and Logan chuckled.

She sure was strange.

It took Logan only five minutes to realize why Stephanie was so happy about finding the vehicle. By the time it was growing dark, Euban was actually enjoying the bumpy ride too. His hair whipped in the wind as the Rhino sped past ruined buildings, bouncing over rubble piles and clearing gaps in the hollow ground. Logan watched all the gadgets and trinkets as Stephanie sat behind the wheel, dust flying behind them. There was a large box-like computer with a screen that had 'GPS' written on the bottom. Logan suddenly felt the cool sensation flow to the back of his eyeballs.

"That stands for 'Global Positioning System'," Merriam chimed in his ear as they sped along, "It is designed to use a complex system of satellite readings to locate you. These special military modules have a ten kilometer FOF tag reader and motion sensor."

"FOF?" Logan asked Stephanie.

"Friend or Foe," she said, "It's a special system designed to immediately tell whether a target is friendly or an enemy. It's saved my ass a lot of times." Logan nodded, sitting back as the wind whipped past them. After about thirty minutes of driving they had passed the last ruined building and where back out on the broken, dry land. Sand dunes no longer covered this part of the land; only dark brown ground with small cracks running along it from the day heat. Soon, it was night, and the only illumination they had was the pair of headlights located on the front of the vehicle. As they drove Stephanie explained all about the Resistance; how it had been started as a desperate attempt to fight the last of the Aeber.

"So, it's just a large group of humans?" Logan asked, amazed at how a large village of even pure warriors could stand against a million Aeber.

"Not just a large group," Stephanie smirked, "We've got at least four million military in just our region. And they're not all human either." Logan looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. Stephanie grinned.

"I've put the pieces together since we've been driving," she said, "I believe the secret weapons that Merriam mentioned were the Angelica Strain." Logan looked at her again.

"The what?" he asked.

"The Angelica Strain," Stephanie replied matter-of-factly, " Long ago, before the Terran Wars even started, an Aeber soldier, known as Euban Angelica, was sent to Earth to learn from our behavior. However, it was actually a secret plan, The Angelica Project, unknown even to him, designed to create the perfect blend of Aeber and some other unknown alien race…I can't recall the name unfortunately. Anyways, this hero was killed in a glorious battle, but not before Aeber scientists were able to nab a sample of his DNA mixed with the alien DNA. From that, they created what was called the Angelica Strain, a group of about a million perfect copies of Angelica, made from the best of all the Aeber heroes, even their fist warrior, God. They also are combinations of DNA from the unknown alien race as well, so they fight about ten times better than any other Aeber. That, I think, is the secret weapon that Merriam was unable to mention. You see, Angelica was good friends with the scientist that was running the Angelica Project, and when Angelica died, the scientist decided to send these one million or so Aeber to fight for us, since he did not believe that the Terran War was viable." Logan looked at her in surprise.

"He didn't even believe in his own species cause?" Stephanie shrugged.

"I've heard it had something to do with an individual's rights, but I'm not sure. I'm kinda vague on the details. Anyways…" Stephanie's voice trailed off as she stared ahead of them, and Logan noticed what she was staring at. Smoke was trailing into the sky from a fire burning over a small blasted hill. Stephanie pushed harder on the gas pedal and the Rhino picked up speed, and they stopped as they neared the top of the hill. "We should go check it out without the vehicle," she told him. Logan nodded, grabbing a pair of binoculars as Stephanie rifled around in back. He saw her pull out a long black case. "What's in this?" she asked him. He shrugged.

"I found it with the rocket launchers," he said. She frowned slightly, unzipping it, and gasping with happiness. Logan walked over to her as she pulled a long barreled rifle with a scope from the case. "What is it?" he asked her.

"A sniper rifle," she whispered, "man, it's been a while since I've seen one of these babies!" Logan turned back to the hillock as Stephanie pulled a very long clip from the case and jammed it into the bottom of the rifle, and Logan heard it click satisfyingly. She handed it too him, grabbing the binoculars. "Check out the scope," she said, "It's got up to a 12x zoom and a bullet indicator." Logan pressed his eye against the scope and gasped quietly. It certainly was impressive. He noticed Stephanie continuing up the hill and followed. When they reached the top, Logan shouldered the rifle as Stephanie put the binoculars to her face.

"What is it?" Logan asked. Stephanie cursed.

"Fuck me Freddy look at that," she said. Logan took the binoculars and pressed them to his face. He followed the trail of smoke to the ground and cursed as well. A group of about ten Aeber was standing next to the ruined hulk of a very large vehicle, which a large double barreled cannon resting on a turret. On either side of the turret, resting on the flat treads were box-like missile launchers. In front of the missile racks were several small turrets with smaller weapons for anti-infantry use. Smoke bled from the front of the large vehicle as the Aeber stalked around it, looking for survivors. At least four of them carried large two handed weapons with power coils that glowed green or blue. The rest were armed with what seemed to be normal infantry weapons. One Aeber stood out from his brethren, standing at least a foot taller than either of them, carrying nothing but a smaller version of what the other troops carried. A purple cape flowed from his shoulders, which were adorned with gold patterns. The Aeber also had an exceedingly detailed headdress, much more elegant than any of the other Aeber's around him.

"What's the vehicle?" Logan asked, taking his eyes off the leader and moving them to the vehicle.

"A heavy assault tank, a Thunderhammer pattern Bladewind. Those Aeber must have some pretty heavy firepower to take out that thing." Logan sneered and handed Stephanie the binoculars, slinging the sniper rifle from his shoulders and resting in a crouched position. Stephanie cursed.

"Are you nuts?" she hissed, pushing the barrel down, "look at the firepower they've got! They could take us out in a second!"

"Not exactly true," piped Merriam, "I calculate that you could easily last about five minutes with the distance they've got to cover to get in range with those gauss cannons." Logan stared Stephanie in the eyes.

"Merriam, could we take them on with the firepower we've got?" he asked quietly. There was a slight pause.

"Yes," Merriam chimed.

"And live?" Stephanie asked.

"Yes," Merriam repeated. Logan looked at Stephanie as she looked down at the Aeber below.

"Those monsters destroyed my home," Logan whispered, "You can't honestly expect me to just sit here and let them do it again?" Stephanie sat for a second, and Logan noticed her hand slowly sliding down the rifle barrel, before coming to rest on his arm.

"I'll get the rocket launcher," she said finally. Logan nodded, and Stephanie stood, hurrying back to the Rhino and grabbing a launcher and a crate of extra ammo, bringing it over to the side of the hill. Loading the rocket launcher, she prepared to stand and fire. Logan, however, held her back.

"Fire at the two largest clumps, then re-load and fire off as many as you can," he told her, "terror tactics." She nodded, and Logan held up two fingers, bringing up the rifle, before waving them forward as his sights rested on the Aeber leader. Stephanie stood, and fired. Logan noticed the pair of rockets out of the corner of his eye, twin streaks of flame coiling towards the group of Aeber. At the last possible second, just as Logan prepared to fire, the leader looked up, diving aside just before the rockets hit. The blast threw him aside and Logan cursed as his shot missed. He switched over to another target and fired as baleful cries of confusion met his ears; an armour-piercing bullet crashed into an Aeber's head, making its shields crackle as they gave in, exploding in a burst of energy and causing it to stumble backwards. It turned, and Logan whispered "Oh no, you don't." He fired again, and a second bullet crashed through the Aeber's eye. Bone and a bloody mess of gore blasted out the back of the Aeber's skull, and it fell to the ground, dropping its weapon. Logan immediately tracked another target and fired. This time, the bullet pierced the shields, and the Aeber was knocked backwards as a bullet splintered into its forehead, its two barreled weapon falling from its hands. Logan turned, ready to fire, but a rocket slammed into his next clump of targets, sending the bodies flying. He swung the rifle around, noticing the Aeber leader running for a long, elegant looking vehicle, which was floating about a meter off the ground on its grav engines, which were throwing sand everywhere. It was very round and detailed, with a large cannon resting on its back. Logan adjusted the scope slightly, tracking the Aeber as he rushed for the getaway vehicle. He waited for the perfect moment, exhaled, and fired. The bullet slammed into the Aeber's armoured back, cracking through its shields but rebounding off its armour. A yellow explosion of energy from the dying shields sent the alien flying into the side of the vehicle instead of into the sand, and he stumbled upright, jumping into it and speeding off before Logan could fire the killing shot. Logan cursed and regretfully turned his attention back to the remaining Aeber, who were staring after their leader as they realized they were abandoned. Logan found another target, but before he could fire the Aeber moved, sliding behind the wreckage of the large vehicle. Logan followed the targets possible location, and noticed the Aeber's weapon through a gap in the twisted metal. Logan rested the sights upon the weapon and fired. An explosion of blue fire threw the Aeber over four meters away, and he landed hard in the sand, struggling to rise until Logan blasted his spine apart with three precise shots; blood spattered onto the sand. Another Aeber ran in front of Logan, and he immediately followed it. Logan grimaced to himself. The monster deserved it. Logan fired, and the Aeber's shields crackled off. Logan fired again, and the Aeber was knocked over as a bullet pierced its right shoulder, throwing him violently to the ground. The Aeber yelled in pain and rage and Logan felt his instincts boiling with rage, and he searched for a new target. Where were the cowards?

"Logan," Stephanie whispered, "They're dead. They're all dead." Logan felt Stephanie grab the sniper rifle, pulling it from his grasp. "You did it Logan, you killed them. They're all dead now." Logan sat there for a second, rigid as his heart pounded in his ears and his breathing increased. He wanted to fight, to tear, to kill…Logan felt his body relax and he sat back on the sand, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He put his arms on his knees and rested his head between his legs. It was getting harder to control. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. It was Stephanie. Shakily, Logan stood, taking the assault rifle Stephanie handed him. "Come on," she said quietly, "let's go check it out." Logan nodded and gulped, following her back to the Rhino, Merriam murmuring approvingly to himself about how well they had handed the situation.

At least how well they handled it for humans.

When they drove the Rhino to the wreckage of the Bladewind, Logan could hardly believe his eyes. The tank was much bigger than Logan had expected, easily able to fit ten crewmen inside. As the Rhino stopped, Stephanie jumped out, running over to the huge tank as Logan observed the ground around them. Craters from the rockets dotted the area, which in turn was covered with blood and gore and the limbs and bodies of the dead. Logan climbed out of the Rhino as Stephanie came walking disappointedly over to him.

"Can we use it?" Logan asked. She shook her head.

"The Aeber bastards got it right in the main control center and blew off the right forward tread," she jerked her thumb towards the smoking hulk of the tank, "all the crewmen are either dead inside or lying where we couldn't see them from the hill." She sighed loudly and ran a hand through her hair, and Logan looked around.

"Can we get anything from their bodies?" he asked her. Stephanie shook her head again.

"They were poorly armed, nothing we could use," she told him, "a few old Lance pistols and some very small defense arms, but nothing that we should take with us." Logan nodded. Suddenly he heard coughing and turned. The Aeber he had shot in the shoulder was lying in the sand, reaching with its long arms for its weapon, which was lying in the sand. Logan walked over to the weapon, kicking it aside as Stephanie came hurrying over. "Watch out," she said, "they've got-" she was cut short as the Aeber flicked its wrist, and long, razor sharp blades shot out from a compartment in its armour. Logan simply stood there as the blades nicked the toe of his boot, and he sneered. He noticed he had not shot it in the shoulder but in the arm above the elbow, and he stepped forward, stomping on the Aeber's hand and pushing down hard, feeling shattered bone grinding beneath it. Blood spurted from the wound onto the Aeber's green armour. The Aeber groaned and Logan twisted his foot, before he put his rifle barrel on the Aeber's hand. The Aeber roared and reached out with its other hand, grabbing Logan's ankle. Logan moved the weapon barrel until it was pressed right against the Aeber's skull, and the creature stopped, its four mouth sections opening in a growl, its teeth flashing white. Logan pushed the gun barrel harder into the creatures face, and he felt its grip on his hand relax, and it pulled its hand away. Logan removed the barrel and moved it to the second wrist blade compartment, tapping it slightly. The Aeber nodded slowly and Logan removed his foot. The Aeber reached over and removed the wrist blade compartments, and Logan nodded, shouldering the rifle and bending down, grabbing the Aeber under its arms. It was quite heavy with all of its armour on, and Logan had a hard time dragging it over and propping the creature against some debris while Stephanie kept her rifle trained on it. When they had gotten the Aeber over to the rubble, Logan stepped back, reaching over and pretending to take a helmet off. The Aeber chuckled slightly.

"Have you tried English?" it asked in a deep voice like rolling thunder. Logan dropped his hands, looking to Stephanie, who shrugged.

"You can talk?" Logan asked. The Aeber nodded slowly, pulling his helmet off slowly.

"Of course," he murmured, "how else am I to understand what you are saying? I taught myself." Stephanie nodded, impressed.

"What, so you can hear of our battle plans?" she asked angrily. The Aeber shook its head, tiredly.

" No," he said, "I am my unit's interpreter. We had…" the Aeber gulped, looking up at them with its emerald eyes. "I know you will find this hard, if not impossible, to believe," he began, "but we left the main force and were looking for the nearest Human settlement so as to surrender and fight for them." Stephanie lowered her rifle slightly in shock but brought it back up as the Aeber pushed itself upright, standing to its full height. It towered over Logan and Stephanie and clutched its arm, where blood was still pouring onto its armour. Logan and Stephanie stood there in shock for a moment, then Logan finally stuttered,

"But…why?" The Aeber looked up.

"Armandus, one of the Angelica Strain is my uncle," he said flatly, "as my family fights for the Humans, I have no choice but to join him and fight for them as well." Stephanie nodded jerkily.

Strong family bonds, huh?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Very," he said, "ever since the primary discovery of the Beacon within the Human Rachael Robert, there have been many of us that have been forced to fight against our will. We do actually have feelings, you know," he said pointedly as Stephanie gaped at him, "many of us felt the Council had taken it one step too far. I was one of them. However, most of my family had been killed because of the views I shared. And if it hadn't been for you," he nodded towards Logan, "and that miraculous weapon of yours, I would probably have been found out and killed too." Logan nodded, shouldering his rifle. Staring the Aeber in the eyes, he held out his hand. The Aeber looked at him, confused.

"It's a form of greeting," Logan told him. The Aeber nodded slightly and grasped the hand. His three fingers felt oddly textured against Logan's skin, and Logan shook the hand slowly up and down, noticing that the Aeber returned the gesture with no returning pressure. It was as alien to him as the Aeber were to Logan. Logan grinned, and the Aeber grinned back, a strange motion that was still undetectable within its four jaw segments. Stephanie stared at their handshake for a second, then shouldered her own rifle.

"What's your name?" she asked the Aeber.

"Tartarus," the Aeber replied, "And you?"

"Stephanie," Stephanie replied. Then, lifting her hand toward Logan, she said, "and that's Logan."

"Logan and Stephanie," Tartarus repeated, "An honor to meet you." Logan grinned, releasing Tartarus' hand. Tartarus gasped slightly and clutched his upper arm. "You don't happen to have any medical supplies do you?" he asked.

"What do you need?" Stephanie asked him. He looked up.

"Just some gauze and a few bandages," Stephanie nodded, turning to go back to the Rhino, but then seeming to think of something. She ran past them, hurrying to a fallen man who had a red cross over his chest. She rifled around for something for a moment, then came back, holding a small box.

"What's that?" Logan asked her.

"Artificial skin," she replied, "not sure it will bond as well with his flesh as ours, but it's worth a try." She walked over to Tartarus, who removed the damaged plate of armour and powered down his shields. The yellowish film disappeared, leaving nothing but his grey skin which was stained red with blood. Stephanie opened the box and pulled out a small, thin pinkish film, laying it over the wound with a pair of tweezers. Tartarus gasped slightly as his skin bubbled from the adhesive acids, and Stephanie put on four more layers, finally stepping back to review her handiwork. Tartarus' arm was no longer bleeding, and when he pressed down on it, nothing happened.

"Does it hurt?" Logan asked him. He shook his head, retrieving the damaged piece of armour and locking it back in place.

"The bullet must have only nicked him," Stephanie informed them, "you were lucky. Sniper bullets are designed to go through the target." Tartarus nodded, then looked to Logan.

"May I get my wrist blades back?" he asked somewhat jokingly. Logan nodded, reaching down and picking the compartments from the sand and handing it to the Aeber, who slipped them over his wrists and locked them in place. The seals hissed slightly, and the yellow shield film returned, washing over the Aeber's armour. He stood, flexing, staring at the carnage around him. Logan noticed what he was staring at and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I guess I shouldn't have been so quick to attack you. You must understand, a group of your Aeber comrades raided my village and took several of my friends, including…" Logan gulped, feeling a burning sensation tearing at his eyes, and he sniffed. "Including a girl that I loved."

128


End file.
